Depression is the most common mood disorder among both the general population and older adults. It is not a normal part of ageing, but a mental disorder to which older adults are even more susceptible due to a combination of biological, psychological and social factors. To treat depression in older adults, pharmacotherapy needs to be somewhat tailored.
The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyse the antidepressant prescriptions in older adults aged 65 years and over who were hospitalised at the Department of Gerontopsychiatry of the Vojnik Psychiatric Hospital between 1. 1. 2020 and 31. 12. 2022 and who were prescribed at least one antidepressant on admission or discharge. All necessary data were obtained from the hospital medical records.
Among the 193 treatments analysed, 66 were of men (66/193; 34,2 %) and 127 were of women (127/193; 65,8 %). The majority of patients were in the 65-75 age group, hospitalised for the first time (116/150; 77,33 %). The median length of hospitalisation was 16 days (range 2-113 days). Sertraline was the most commonly prescribed antidepressant on admission and discharge, both in monotherapy and in combination with other antidepressants. In general, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors were the predominant agents. The vast majority of treatments (181/193; 94,0 %) had values of the observed laboratory parameters within the reference range and only four patients (4/193; 2,1 %) had doses of antidepressants inappropriate for liver or renal function. At discharge, antidepressant therapy was changed in 145 (145/193; 75,1 %) admissions, with a total of 161 changes. The most common changes were a change in antidepressant regimen (44/161; 27,3 %), while the most common reason for change was lack of effect in 56 treatments (56/145; 38,6 %). Antidepressant prescribing was highly compliant with both the American Psychological Association guidelines fort he treatment od depression (96,4 %) and the criteria for potentially inappropriate prescribing in older adults PRISCUS (84,5 %), BEERs (95,3 %) and the STOPP/START criteria (100 %). All non-compliances were adequately substantiated in the medical records. When reviewing potential interactions of prescribed antidepressants with concominant therapy, we detected 19 different types of interactions (all grade D) or a total of 48 interactions in 41 treatments (41/193; 21,2 %). Interactions that increased the patients's risk of bleeding were most common (18/48; 40 %).
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