Clinical diagnosis and treatment for late-life depression

Abstract

With the acceleration of the aging process and change in social lifestyle， the prevalence rate of late-life depression （LLD） in the elderly is increasing year by year. As the most common mental disorder in the elderly， LLD seriously affects the quality of life of patients， and thus brings a heavy burden to the family and society. It may even become life-threatening for the elderly patients. The pathogenesis of LLD is still unclear， which may be caused by a combination effects of biological， social and psychological factor. Given the declined body functions and more comorbid physical diseases in the elderly population， the diagnosis and treatment of LLD patients would be different from that of younger adult patients with depression. This paper reviews the epidemiological characteristics， clinical evaluation， diagnosis， comorbidity， treatment and intervention of LLD， and focuses on the selection of therapeutic drugs and adverse reactions， in order to provide references for better diagnosis and treatment of LLD and improve the prognosis of patients.

Keywords

• late-life depression
• comorbidity
• drug therapy
• cognitive function