The efficiency of atypical antidepressants in late life depression

Abstract

Objective:

The study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of Mirtazapine in late life depression´s treatment.

Methods:

The study was conducted on 60 old patients hospitalized in the Psychiatric Clinic of Arad, during January 2004–January 2006, diagnosed with first depressive episode or unipolar major depressive disorder. The diagnostic was established on DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10 operational criteria. The research was conducted comparatively by dividing the patients into two groups: groupA:30 patients treated with Mirtazapine and groupB:30 patients treated with amitriptyline. In the study was included a group C:30 young depressed patients, treated with Mirtazapine. The depression´s severity has been evaluated with HAM-D, MADRS, GAF score and therapeutically response(TR) at admission, after 3weeks and 6months of treatment.

Results:

The average of the statistical HAMD and MADRS scores after 3weeks and 6months of evolution reveals a real improvement in groupA(5,1;7,2/8,1;15) in comparison to groupB(3,7;5,6/4,4;9,3) and were the best in groupC(7,6;12,5/10,6;18,3). The GAF score of 90-81, 80-71, 70-61 points, which was calculated after 3weeks and 6months of clinical evolution, was recorded in a higher percentage in the patients of groupA in comparison to those in groupB. The GAF scores were better in groupC. The values of the TR at 3weeks and 6months in groupA(29,3%;41,34%) were definitely better than those in groupB(22,55%;31,1%), and so was the clinical evolution. In group C de TR were the best (36,5%;60,1%).

Conclusion:

The evolutions of HAMD, MADRS, GAF scores and TR in groupA were considerably better than of those in groupB and were the best in groupC.