Psychotherapy, or “talk therapy,” may be better at treating depression compared to other methods in older adults residing in long-term care communities. Talk therapy also may do more good than other approaches to boost psychological well-being and quality of life, according to a review of existing research. But the authors warned that their data was limited and called for more robust trials.
Data came from 19 randomized controlled trials with 873 participants. Most studies compared therapies including cognitive behavioral therapy, behavioral therapy or reminisce therapy (or a combination of them) comparing them to treatment as usual. The review was published Tuesday in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
“We found very low‐certainty evidence that psychological therapies were more effective than non‐therapy control conditions in reducing symptoms of depression,” the authors wrote.
One small study on 82 people reported that therapy was associated with a greater reduction in the number of participants presenting with major depressive disorder compared to treatment as usual control, at end‐of‐intervention and short‐term follow‐up. People in trials who got therapy were more likely to drop out compared to those who received non-therapy controls.
The team looked at outcomes when people completed therapy as well as up to three months, between three and six months, and at more than six months.
Though psychological therapies may be better at reducing symptoms of depression compared to other approaches immediately following therapy and for up to six months, that effect wasn’t as significant after looking at studies that compared therapy with a condition specifically.
The authors noted that talk therapy could improve well-being and quality of life for residents who were depressed, but that was in the short term. The results may not be seen in residents with depression who experienced anxiety.
The team also warned that evidence was limited because a lot of the studies they evaluated were small and didn’t use reliable study design methods.
Still, given that many older adults are dealing with depression and more people are expected to need long-term care, the authors would like to see more research to support residents with depression.
