Background: Management of depression in the elderly is a growing public health issue in France. The objective of this study was to compare practitioners' perception of depression severity (i.e., intensity and suicidal risk) and clinical practice (i.e., clinical assessment and medication choice) in elderly versus younger adult patients with major depression.
Materials and method: The method consisted of an online questionnaire completed by general practitioners and psychiatrists. Respondents'answers to a fictive case of a patient with major depression were randomized according to the patient's age, if the patient'age was either 40 or 70 years old. We assessed the perceived intensity of the depression, the perceived suicidal risk, the prescription of biological tests and cerebral imaging, and of antidepressive or other psychotropic medications. 102 completed forms were included. Data indicate that there were no significant differences in terms of perceived depression intensity and suicidal risk according to the patients'age. The prescription of biological tests was systematic in both groups, but a significant difference was observed in terms of prescription of brain imaging (71% of respondents for the 70-year-old patient versus 43% for the 40-year-old patient, p < 0.005), use of tetracyclic antidepressant (33% if aged 70 years versus 2% if aged 40 years, p < 0.001) and other psychotropic non-antidepressant medications (69% if aged 70 years versus 85% if aged 40 years, p < 0.05). This study did not show any significant difference in the perception of depression according to age. However, it highlights differences in terms of practical care according to age. These results suggest a partial gap between clinical practice and guidelines for the management of major depression in older adults, reflecting the need to favor the dissemination of guidelines and strengthen research for this population.
Keywords: antidepressants; benzodiazepines; clinical practice; depression; elderly.