Mood disorders in the elderly: prevalence, functional impact, and management challenges

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Data

2016-01-01

Autores

Lane Valiengo, Leandro da Costa
Stella, Florindo [UNESP]
Forlenza, Orestes Vicente

Título da Revista

ISSN da Revista

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Editor

Dove Medical Press Ltd

Resumo

Despite the lower prevalence of severe mood disorders in the elderly as compared to younger adults, late-life depression and bipolar disorder (BD) are more strongly associated with negative outcomes related to the presence of medical comorbidities, cognitive deficits, and increased suicide risk and overall mortality. The mechanisms that contribute to these associations are probably multifactorial, involving pathological factors related directly and indirectly to the disease itself, ranging from biological to psychosocial factors. Most of the accumulated knowledge on the nature of these associations derives from naturalistic and observational studies, and controlled data are still scarce. Nonetheless, there has clearly been a recent growth of the scientific interest on late-life BD and geriatric depression. In the present study, we review the most relevant studies on prevalence, clinical presentation, and cognitive/functional impact of mood disorders in elderly. Several clinical-epidemiological studies were dedicated to the study of the prevalence of mood disorders in old age in distinct settings; however, fewer studies investigated the underlying neurobiological findings and treatment specificities in late-life depression and BD. In the present study, we further discuss the implications of these findings on the management of mood disorders in older adults.

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Palavras-chave

depression, bipolar disorder, psychogeriatric, geriatric, old age, older adults

Como citar

Neuropsychiatric Disease And Treatment. Albany: Dove Medical Press Ltd, v. 12, p. 2105-2114, 2016.