Gorenstein Ethan E, Kleber Marc S, Mohlman Jan, Dejesus Marybeth, Gorman Jack M, Papp Laszlo A
Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2005 Oct;13(10):901-9. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajgp.13.10.901.
The authors hypothesized that patients with late-life anxiety undergoing cognitive-behavioral therapy plus medical management for medication taper (CBT-MM) would realize greater reduction in medication use and greater improvement in psychological symptoms than a control group undergoing medical management alone (MM).
Forty-two patients (age >60) who wanted to reduce anxiolytic medication were allocated to the two groups (CBT-MM versus MM), using a randomization plus difference-minimization procedure (to equate for medication use).
CBT-MM completers significantly reduced medication use, but not at a greater rate than MM completers. At the same time, CBT-MM completers experienced significantly greater alleviation of psychological symptoms than did MM completers. Some, but not all, treatment gains were maintained at 6-month follow-up. Intention-to-treat analyses using the mixed-effects model showed similar, but weaker, treatment effects than completer analyses.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy can alleviate psychological symptoms in elderly patients with anxiety even as patients reduce anxiolytic medication.
