Optimizing Outcomes of Treatment Resistant Depression in Older Adults (OPTIMUM): Study Design and Treatment Characteristics of the First 396 Participants Randomized

A challenge in the care of older adults with major depressive disorder is failure to respond to first-line pharmacotherapy: Half to two-thirds of these older adults fail to remit with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) or a serotonin –norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI).1 Late-life treatment-resistant depression (LLTRD) worsens medical outcomes,2 increases disability,3 hastens cognitive decline, and increases risk of dementia.4 The societal toll of unremitted depression is high: it is strongly associated with suicide,2 it carries the highest loss of quality of life and the highest mortality among chronic conditions.

Source: The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry - April 22, 2019 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Pilar Cristancho, Emily Lenard, Eric J Lenze, J. Philip Miller, Patrick J. Brown, Steven P. Roose, Carolina Montes-Garcia, Daniel M. Blumberger, Benoit H. Mulsant, Helen Lavretsky, Bruce L. Rollman, Charles F. Reynolds III, Jordan F. Karp Tags: Regular Research Article Source Type: research