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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2010 Feb;18(2):128-35.
doi: 10.1097/JGP.0b013e3181c796d2.

Antidepressant medication and executive dysfunction: a deleterious interaction in late-life depression

Joel R Sneed  1 , Michelle E Culang, John G Keilp, Bret R Rutherford, Davangere P Devanand, Steven P Roose
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Antidepressant medication and executive dysfunction: a deleterious interaction in late-life depression

Joel R Sneed et al. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2010 Feb.

Abstract

Objectives: To determine whether there is differential response to placebo or citalopram among older patients with and without deficient response inhibition (DRI).

Design: This is an 8-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Setting: Outpatient psychiatry.

Participants: Unipolar depressed patients aged 75 years and older.

Intervention: Citalopram (20-40 mg/day) or placebo pill.

Measurements: Baseline Stroop Color-Word Test and weekly 24-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression assessments.

Results: Citalopram-treated patients with DRI did significantly worse than placebo-treated patients with DRI. Conversely, citalopram-treated patients without DRI did significantly better than placebo-treated patients without DRI.

Conclusion: Patients with late-life depression and DRI respond worse to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) than placebo. These findings suggest that there may be a deleterious interaction between DRI and antidepressant medication in late-life depression and that the mechanism of SSRI and placebo response is different.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Change in unadjusted HRSD scores between placebo and citalopram conditions among patients with deficient response inhibition, t(82407) = −1.97, p = .049, and without deficient response inhibition, t(210.1) = −2.25, p = .026.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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