Antidepressants in Elderly Patients with Depression and Dementia: A Review of Clinical Effectiveness and Guidelines

Question

1. What is the clinical effectiveness and safety of antidepressants in elderly patients with both depression and dementia in any setting (home, long-term care, or hospital)?
2. What are the evidence-based guidelines associated with the use of antidepressants in elderly patients with both depression and dementia in any setting (home, long-term care, or hospital)?

Key Message

Although there was a limited suggestion that antidepressants had beneficial effect in patients with depression and dementia this evidence was found to be equivocal and examination was conducted on study populations that were underpowered to achieve statistical significance. The majority of publications identified indicate that the use of antidepressants in these patients does not result in higher remission rates of depression or any associated improvement in cognitive functionality than to the placebo treatments used as controls.