title: The posttreatment illness course of depression in bereaved elders. High relapse/recurrence rates.
abstract: Losing close attachments through death in late life is common and can lead to depression. Previous work has shown the clinical benefits of treating these depressions. This article describes the 2-year course of 53 elderly subjects with bereavement-related depression after responding to various treatments. Forty-six patients experienced a full response to acute treatment, but 36% experienced relapse or recurrence. This finding suggests that the treatment response in depressed bereaved older patients is more brittle than expected.
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Clinical Research Center for the Study of Late-Life Mood Disorders, USA.
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Pasternak
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Prigerson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fasiczka
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mazumdar
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Reynolds
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001601:Bereavement; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009661:Nortriptyline / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009769:Object Attachment; D012008:Recurrence; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic; D009661:Nortriptyline