| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
Pharmacological treatment of depression in older primary care patients
— the PROSPECT algorithm | | Author(s) | B H Mulsant, G S Alexopoulos, C F Reynolds III |
| Corporate Author | PROSPECT Study Group |
| Journal title | International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 16, no 6, June 2001 |
| Pages | pp 585-592 |
| Keywords | Depression ; Drugs ; General practice ; Evaluation ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | PROSPECT (Prevention of Suicide in Primary care Elderly - Collaborative Trial) is testing whether a trained clinician (the "health specialist") can work in close collaboration with a primary care physician to implement a comprehensive depression management programme and improve outcomes in depressed older patients. This article discusses the rationale behind an algorithm guiding the selection and use of antidepressant medications, developed to assist PROSPECT health specialists. The algorithm builds on existing guidelines, after updating them and adapting them to the special circumstances of older primary care patients. Special attention has been paid to the tolerability and the target doses of the recommended antidepressant agents and to duration of antidepressant trials. Patients unable to tolerate or respond to an antidepressant can be switched to another agent, or be treated with interpersonal psychotherapy. Treatments for which empirical evidence exist are favoured. However, treatments that are poorly tolerated by older patients are given lower priority than those more likely to be tolerated. Similarly, trials that are simpler to implement in primary care are favoured. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-010716210 A |
| Classmark | ENR: LLD: L5: 4C: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|