engleski

Treatment with fluoxetine for depression in elderly

The efficacy of the treatment with fluoxetine (Prozac) in 76 depressive patients was evaluated in this study. Patients were of both sex (49 women and 27 men), between 65 and 87 years of age. At the time of the study they were either refugees or displaced persons. They were diagnosed (according to ICD-10) as Major Depression, either as the only psychiatric diagnosis or as a comorbidity with PTSD, Alcoholism or Anxiety disorder. From the total number of enrolled patients, 54 of them (71.1%), besides the psychiatric diagnosis, had at least one somatic illness. The older age of patients and the high percentage of somatic illnesses, especially the frequent cardiac illnesses, were the main reason4for the introduction of fluoxetine into the therapy of those patients. Besides the fluoxetine therapy, the patients were receiving other medication, prescribed by the physician. During the first three weeks, some of the patients were also on anxiolytics or sedatives. The duration of the study was 12 weeks, but most of the patients remained in the treatment even after the study was finished. The dosage of fluoxetine varied from 20 to 60 mg daily, divided into two dosages. During the study, the efficacy of the treatment was evaluated by the Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) and Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMDS), and the side effects were also observed. By evaluating our data on the efficacy and the side effects of fluoxetine, we find it to be a very effective antidepressive drug in 80.3% of the patients. The side effects were evident in 17 patients (22.4%), but due to the gastric difficulties in only one patient it led to the decreasing of the daily dosage of fluoxetine.

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