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KMID : 0370220130570020101
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Yakhak Hoeji
2013 Volume.57 No. 2 p.101 ~ p.109
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Drug Use Evaluation of the Elderly Patient with Major Depressive Disorder
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Lim Ok-Jeong
Lee Ok-Sang
Yun Hye-Sul
Choe Kyung-Sik
Lim Sung-Cil
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Abstract
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Depressive disorders are the most common psychiatric problem in the elderly. Most depression treatment guidelines emphasize treatment with antidepressant medication and recommend that benzodiazepine use be minimized for limited period, particularly to elderly patients. In order to evaluate appropriate use of antidepressants and benzodiazepine, retrospective review of prescriptions was performed. The study population are older than 65 years who had been newly diagnosed with major depressive disorder in specialty mental health at a community general hospital from January 1st, 2007 to October 31th, 2012 (N=373). Initial antidepressant accounted for 89.5% with SSRI, and escitalopram accounted for 60.9% of SSRI group. 79% or more of the patients were prescribed the recommended dosage. The maintenance rate for 4 weeks of initial antidepressant was 48% and 6 weeks was 39%. Treatment-discontinuation rate was 68% at 3 month. Alprazolam (short acting benzodiazepine) was prescribed the most, followed by clonazepam (long acting benzodiazepine) and then diazepam. 55% of patients received a duplicated prescription for short acting plus long acting benzodiazepine. 61% of patients used long acting benzodiazepines. Prescribed dosages of benzodiazepines were commonly within a recommended range, while no one was prescribed a appropriate period (up to 2 weeks) except for the early discontinued patients. Appropriate use of zolpidem was only 16.2%. The depressed elderly treated in specialty mental health mostly received long-term treatment with benzodiazepines in combination with antidepressants, guideline recommendations was not followed. Multidisciplinary interventions like audit and feedback of benzodiazepine use are needed and education for the elderly is needed to properly maintain antidepressant treatment.
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KEYWORD
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antidepressant, benzodiazepine, elderly, geriatrics, depression, anxiolytics
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Listed journal information
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