Which clinical factors and biochemical parameters are associated with late-life major depression?

Introduction: Late-life major depression (MD) is a frequent and high-cost psychiatric disorder. Our purpose was to detect clinical and biological factors possibly associated with this condition to better prevent and treat it.Methods: We recruited 343 patients, consecutively admitted for a Major Depressive Episode to the inpatient clinic of Policlinico of Milan and ASST Monza, Italy. A large set of clinical and biochemical variables was collected from clinical charts. Univariate analyses were performed both dividing the sample into two groups (age < or >= 65) and considering age as a continuous quantitative variable. Regression analyses were then performed considering as independent variables only those statistically significant at univariate analyses.Results: Patients aged >= 65 resulted in having longer duration of illness, shorter duration of last antidepressant therapy, higher number of antidepressants assumed in the past, higher frequency of treatment-resistant depression, higher frequency of overweight/obesity and diabetes. As for biochemical parameters, patients >= 65 showed lower total plasmatic proteins and albumin, higher uric acid and creatinine.Conclusions: These preliminary results suggest less effectiveness of antidepressants, more susceptibility to metabolic disorders and poor nutritional status in patients with late-life depression; such aspects may consequently be taken into consideration for a proper therapeutic approach. KEY POINTS center dot Depression in late life seems to be associated with poorer response to antidepressants;center dot Clinicians should prefer compounds with minimal pharmacokinetic interactions and less risk of side effects including metabolic ones;center dot The poor nutritional status and the higher risk of metabolic disorders in older patients points out the importance of proper diet and healthy lifestyle in this group of subjects;center dot Further studies are needed to confirm the results of this research.