This Journal feature begins with a case vignette highlighting a common clinical problem. Evidence supporting various strategies is then presented, followed by a review of formal guidelines, when they exist. The article ends with the author's clinical recommendations.
A 74-year-old woman with hypertension that is well controlled with hydrochlorothiazide is brought by her daughter for an evaluation. The daughter states that her mother is withdrawn, often tearful, and at times appears to have memory problems but has no history of psychiatric illness. The patient is a retired teacher who is widowed and has lived independently for several years. During the last few months, she has stopped going to church and visiting friends. The patient's symptoms include irritability, anhedonia, fatigue, a 4.5-kg (10-lb) weight loss over a period of 3 months, and difficulty sleeping. She feels like a burden to her family. How should she be treated?
THE CLINICAL PROBLEM
Late-life depression is the occurrence of major depressive disorder in adults 60 years of age or older. Major depressive disorder occurs in up to 5% of community-dwelling older adults, and 8 to 16% of older adults have clinically significant depressive symptoms.1 Rates of major depressive disorder rise with increasing medical morbidity, with reported rates of 5 to 10% in primary care2 and as high as 37% after critical care hospitalizations.3
Patients with late-life depression are heterogeneous in terms of clinical history and coexisting medical conditions. As compared with older adults reporting an initial depressive episode early in life, those with late-onset depression are more likely to have neurologic abnormalities, including deficits on neuropsychological tests and age-related changes on neuroimaging that are greater than normal; they are also at higher risk for subsequent dementia. 4 Such observations informed the hypothesis that vascular disease may contribute to depression in some older adults.