Centre for Policy on Ageing



The effectiveness of the treatment of depression in the physically ill elderly
Author(s)	B M Draper
Journal title	Aging & Mental Health, vol 4, no 1, February 2000
Pages	pp 9-20
Source	http://www.tandfonline.com
Keywords	Depression ; Ill health ; Drugs ; Therapy.
Annotation	The effectiveness of depression treatments in older people with physical illnesses is critically reviewed. Few controlled studies have been published and many of these have methodological limitations. Controlled studies of antidepressants indicate that they are effective in the treatment of major depression associated with chronic stable physical illness, though there are high dropout rates. Psychological interventions have been infrequently investigated in controlled studies. The few available studies support their potential utility in chronic stable illness. Uncontrolled trials suggest that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is safe and effective in the treatment of severe major depression associated with physical illness. A range of psychosocial interventions that target quality of life domains should be further investigated in less severe depression. (AKM).
Accession Number	CPA-000407401 A
Classmark	ENR: CH: LLD: LO
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.