Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
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Neuropsychopharmacology · Dec 2004
Comparative StudyExecutive dysfunction, heart disease burden, and remission of geriatric depression.
This study investigated the relationship of executive impairment and heart disease burden to remission of major depression among elderly patients. A total of 112 elderly subjects suffering from major depression received treatment with citalopram at a target daily dose of 40 mg for 8 weeks. Diagnosis was assigned using the Research Diagnostic Criteria and the DSM-IV Criteria after an interview with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. ⋯ Impairment in other DRS cognitive domains, disability, medical burden unrelated to heart disease did not significantly influence the outcome of depression in this sample. Executive dysfunction and heart disease burden constitute independent vulnerability factors that increase the risk for chronicity of geriatric depression. The findings of this study provide the rationale for investigation of the role of specific frontostriatal-limbic pathways in predisposing to geriatric depression or worsening its course.