Therapy for Depressed Elders With Thought Problems

University of Washington

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 3

Conditions: Cognition Disorders; Depression

Treatments: Behavioral: Problem Solving Therapy; Behavioral: Brief Supportive Therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT00052091

R01MH063982 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

H7472-19384-8

DATR A4-GPS

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study will compare the effectiveness of Problem Solving Therapy and Brief Supportive Therapy in treating elderly patients with major depression and thought problems.

Full description

Patients who suffer from a combination of major depression and executive dysfunction symptoms often respond poorly to treatment with antidepressants. It is important, therefore, to find effective alternative therapies to treat these symptoms.

Patients are randomly assigned to receive 12 sessions (1 session/week for 12 weeks) of either PST or BST. Following treatment, patients are followed for 6 months to determine functional and clinical outcomes. Depression scales, disability scales, and scales that measure problem solving skills are used to assess patients.

Enrollment: 221 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 60+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Nonpsychotic, unipolar major depression
• Cognitive impairment
• English speaking

Exclusion criteria

• High suicide risk
• Dementia
• Acute or severe medical illness
• Current psychotherapy

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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221 participants in 2 patient groups

1 Problem Solving Therapy

Experimental group

Description:

12 weekly sessions of problem solving therapy (PST)

Treatment:

Behavioral: Problem Solving Therapy

2 Brief Supportive Therapy

Experimental group

Description:

12 weekly sessions of brief supportive therapy (BST)

Treatment:

Behavioral: Brief Supportive Therapy