Background: The aim of this review was to identify and critically appraise predictors and moderators of outcomes of psychological and pharmacological treatments for late-life anxiety disorders. Their identification may guide the development of personalised treatments for older people with anxiety disorders.
Methods: Web of Science, PsychINFO, CINAHL, Embase, and Pubmed were searched for studies published up to 12 May 2022. Randomised controlled trials and observational studies reporting treatment predictors and moderators were included. Participants with a diagnosis of any anxiety disorder who were aged over 60 years were included. Treatment outcomes included response, remission, and change in anxiety score.
Results: Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Twenty-three out of 49 predictors or moderators assessed at post-treatment, and 14 out of 33 predictors or moderators assessed at follow-up were statistically significant. Only one predictor, baseline worry severity at post-treatment, was reported in at least three studies. Most studies were rated as having a low risk of bias in at least three areas and satisfied important quality criteria for predictor and moderator analyses.
Limitations: Samples were predominantly white, female and highly educated, and most studies were secondary analyses.
Conclusions: There is evidence that baseline worry severity appears to predict treatment outcome in late-life anxiety disorders. However, this was only explored in psychological intervention studies and therefore its predictive ability in pharmacotherapy remains unknown. Future research should explore predictors and moderators in a range of anxiety disorders and design methodologically-strong and adequately-powered studies with the primary aim of assessing predictors of treatment outcomes.
Keywords: Anxiety disorders; Late life; Moderator; Predictor; Systematic review.
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