IMH has initiated a five-year study to look at the causes of depression among adults in Singapore, with the aim of finding ways to prevent it or halt its trajectory. The study will track around 3,200 Singapore residents aged between 18 and 75, as they go about their lives to see how symptoms of depression and the severity evolve over time. They include individuals with depression, a control group who do not have the condition, and individuals who have subsyndromal depression.

The study, titled Preventing Depression: Investigation In Cohorts Of Its Etiology And Trajectory (PREDICT), is the the first nationwide longitudinal study to track the development and trajectory of depression among the local population. It is jointly funded by the National Medical Research Council’s Population Health Research Grant and NHG, the healthcare cluster that IMH belongs to.

Associate Professor Mythily Subramaniam, assistant chairman of IMH’s medical board (research) and the study’s lead investigator, said that researchers will study how diverse life events and factors influence the development and progression of depression. “This in turn can help us identify population subgroups who could be more vulnerable to developing depression, giving us an opportunity to intervene early. If we can design appropriate interventions to mitigate the risks they are exposed to, we hope that one day, we would be able to prevent the onset of depression or change the illness trajectory for better outcomes.”

Biomarkers are also an important aspect of the study. Participants will have the option of giving their biological samples, such as blood to test routine parameters, metabolic markers like blood sugar and cholesterol levels, as well as hair samples to assess the impact of stressors through cumulative cortisol level.

Currently, the diagnosis of depression relies heavily on symptom history, which can be quite subjective and varied, said Dr Nisha Chandwani, the study’s co-investigator and chief of IMH’s department of mood and anxiety. The biomarkers can provide more objective and measurable indicators of disease characteristics, which can lead to more accurate and possibly earlier diagnosis.

Those who are interested in participating in the study can go to www.predict-imhresearch.sg to find out more.