‘Precision psychiatry’ needs to become part of ‘personalized psychiatry’

Abstract

Abstract‘Precision medicine’ is defined as ‘an emerging approach for treatment and prevention that takes into account each person’s variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle’. Sometimes the term ‘personalized medicine’ is also used, either as a synonym or in a broader sense. In psychiatry, the term ‘personalized’ applies to different levels of health-care provision, such as the service organization and the choice of treatment plans based on the characterization of the individual patient. This approach is already feasible but, currently, it is often hampered by the shortage of human and financial resources. Recently, the terminology of ‘precision medicine’ has been extended to psychiatry: the term ‘precision psychiatry’ refers to the full exploitation of recent scientific and technological advances to achieve a close match between individual biosignature and prevention / treatment strategies. This article provides an overview of recent advances in neuroimaging, multi-omics and computational neuroscience, which have contributed to foster our understanding of the neurobiology of major mental disorders, and led to the implementation of a precision medicine-oriented approach in psychiatry.We argue that, while ‘precision psychiatry’ represents an important step to further advance the effectiveness of the ‘personalized psychiatry’, the distinction between the two terms is important to avoid dangerous neglect of the current potential of personalized care in psychiatry and to underscore the need for disseminating good existing practices aimed at organizing mental health services and providing care according to person’s psychopathological characteristics, illness trajectory, needs, environment and preferences.In conclusion, ‘precision psychiatry’ will contribute to advance ‘personalized psychiatry’, but for the time being keeping the distinction between the two terms will contribute to fully exploit the current potential of personalized care.

Individualisation, personalisation and person-centredness in mental healthcare: a scoping review of concepts and linguistic network visualisation

“…In psychiatry, the term ‘personalised’ applies to different levels of health-care provision, such as the service organization (accessibility, flexibility, scalability) and the implementation of treatment plans based on the characterization of the individual patient (psychopathological characteristics, personal history including premorbid functioning, family history, individual preferences, environment and lifestyle, physical comorbidities, cognitive functioning, resilience). 39 …”

“…In psychiatry, the term 'personalised' applies to different levels of health-care provision, such as the service organization (accessibility, flexibility, scalability) and the implementation of treatment plans based on the characterization of the individual patient (psychopathological characteristics, personal history including premorbid functioning, family history, individual preferences, environment and lifestyle, physical comorbidities, cognitive functioning, resilience). 39 Frameworks of personalisation Some theoretical frameworks were found using personalisation in a standardised manner. The predictive preventive personalised medicine or the 3PM model 40 related to an integrative concept in healthcare that aimed at predicting individual predisposition before the onset of a disease and providing tailored prevention and highly personalised treatments via algorithms.…”

On the Road to Individualizing Pharmacotherapy for Adolescents and Adults with Schizophrenia – Results from an Expert Consensus Following the Delphi Method

“…In general, “precision medicine” takes into account broader differences in people’s genes, environments, and lifestyles to design specific prevention and treatment strategies that may be effective for some but not for all individuals, abandoning the traditional one-size-fits-all approach. 30 Personalized medicine, however, also takes into account demographic and disease characteristics, and past, current, or future treatment effects, as well as patient goals and preferences, with the aim of optimizing care and improving outcomes for each individual.To further complicate an already confusing collection of terms, the term “individualized medicine” is also used in this context. While “personalized medicine” and “individualized medicine” are often used interchangeably, they may have slightly different connotations depending on the context.…”

Research fronts and researchers of World Journal of Psychiatry in 2023: A visualization and analysis of mapping knowledge domains

“…The shift towards individualized medicine signifies the importance of psychiatrists viewing each patient as a unique individual, departing from a one-size-fits-all approach to care[ 6 ]. Integrating precision psychiatry into personalized treatment strategies ensures that interventions are precisely tailored to the specific characteristics and needs of each patient, maximizing therapeutic efficacy[ 7 ].…”