Association of antidepressant treatment with emergency admission to medical units for patients 65 years or older

Abstract

Introduction: There is increasing evidence relating the presence of depression in seniors and the risk of hospital admission in medical departments from the Emergency Services.

Objective: To determine the impact of antidepressant treatment (ATD) as a protective factor for emergency hospitalization in older people.

Method: All patients aged 65 and over who required urgent attention for medical reasons at the Emergency Department of the Corporació Sanitària i Universitària Parc Taulí (Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain) for the period between January and October 2012 were included in the study. Sociodemographic variables, alcohol and tobacco use, medical history and psychopharmacological treatment were obtained. The necessary sample size was calculated and a simple randomization was performed. Subsequently, a descriptive statistical analysis and parametric tests were conducted.

Results: A total of 674 patients (53% women) were evaluated, with a mean age of 78.45 years, and 27.6% of the cases (71% women) were receiving ATD. Among the 333 admitted patients (50%), 83 individuals (24.6%) had previously received ATD; this contrasts with the 103 cases (30.6%) of prior ATD treatment among the patients who were not admitted. After comparative analysis, the relationship between previous use of ATD and being admitted to hospital was not statistically significant in our global sample. This relationship was only statistically significant among the group aged 75 and over (neg. sig. 0.012).

Conclusions: In our study, ATD was associated with a decreased risk of hospital admission for urgent medical conditions in people aged 75 and over. Treating depression may protect the elderly against admission to the Emergency department and may potentially be a quality criterion in preventing complications in this population.

Keywords: Ansiolíticos; Antidepresivos; Antidepressants; Anxiolytics; Emergency; Geriatrics; Geriatría; Hospitalización.; Hospitalization; Urgencias.