title: Interventions for generalized anxiety disorder in older adults: systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is one of the most common anxiety disorders in later life, with widespread consequences for individuals and society.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To perform a systematic review of the efficacy of controlled interventions for GAD in adults aged 55 years and older.
  
  
  METHODS
  Direct search of digital databases and the main publications on aging and iterative searches of the references from retrieved articles.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-seven trials (14 pharmacological, 13 psychotherapeutic) fulfilled the inclusion criteria, reporting results from 2373 baseline participants. There were no differences between trials in their overall quality. Pooled treatment effects for pharmacological (OR=0.32, 95% CI: 0.18, 0.54) and psychotherapeutic (OR=0.33, 95% CI: 0.17, 0.66) trials were similar, with findings in each case favoring active interventions over control conditions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Older adults with GAD benefited from both pharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions. Future studies should investigate combined treatment with medication and psychotherapy.
authors: School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. d.goncalves@uqconnect.edu.au
authors: Daniela C
authors: DC
authors: Gonçalves
authors: Gerard J
authors: GJ
authors: Byrne
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents