Frail, Older Adults May Have Poorer Response to Antidepressant Treatment Than Non-Frail Adults

Older, depressed adults who are frail (experiencing deficits in strength and physical activity) may have a poorer response to antidepressant treatment than non-frail older adults with depression, according to areport in theJournal of Geriatric Psychiatry.“Frailty in the context of late-life depression may mean that antidepressant medications are necessary but not sufficient for the adequate treatment of frail adults,” wrote Patrick Brown, Ph.D., of the Neurobiology and Therapeutics of Aging Division at the New York State Psychiatric Institute (N YSPI) and colleagues. Physical therapy, behavioral strategies, and/or exercise to improve energy, lower extremity strength, and greater overall activity levels may be necessary to improve outcomes.Brown and colleagues compared outcomes of 49 frail adults and 51 non-frail or moderately frail adults over age 60 receiving treatment for late-life depression at the Clinic for Aging, Anxiety, and Mood Disorders at NYSPI. Frailty was determined using measures of gait speed, hand grip strength, physical activity, fatigue, and self-reported unintentional weight loss with clinically significant cutoff points: individuals were categorized as non-frail (0 deficits), intermediate frail (1-2 deficits), and frail (3 or more deficits). All participants had a diagnosis of either major depressive disorder or persistent depressive disorder and a score of 16 or higher on the 24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HRSD).Participants were treated wi...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: antidepressants depression fatigue frail grip strength Hamilton Depression Rating Scale Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry physical activity weight loss Source Type: research