Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24973043›Full record

SynthesisMaturitas2014

Managing depression in older age: psychological interventions.

Pim Cuijpers, Eirini Karyotaki, Anne Margriet Pot, Mijung Park, Charles F Reynolds

Open access · bronzeAbstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Maturitas, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
50citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
19.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

50 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 186 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  12. Geriatric assessment with management intervention in older adults with cancer: a randomized pilot study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2018
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  14. Article
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  16. Psychotherapy for older adults with depression: a narrative review.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Review
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  19. Psychotherapeutic treatments for depression in older adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Pim CuijpersDepartment of Clinical Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands; EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, The Netherlands. Electronic address: p.cuijpers@vu.nl.
Eirini KaryotakiDepartment of Clinical Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands; EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, The Netherlands.
Anne Margriet PotDepartment of Clinical Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands; EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, The Netherlands; Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, The Netherlands; School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Australia.
Mijung ParkUniversity of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, United States.
Charles F ReynoldsUniversity of Pittsburgh Schools of Medicine and Graduate School of Public Health, United States.
EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research · NLPittsburgh Public Schools · USUniversity of Pittsburgh · USUniversity of Queensland · AU

Funding

RESEARCH METHODS COREP30MH090333 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI REYNOLDS, CHARLES F. · 2011 to 2015
$8.3M
NIMH NIH HHS P30 MH090333NIMH NIH HHS P30MH90333
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The number of studies on psychological treatments of depression in older adults has increased considerably in the past years. Therefore, we conducted an updated meta-analysis of these studies. A total of 44 studies comparing psychotherapies to control groups, other therapies or pharmacotherapy could be included. The overall effect size indicating the difference between psychotherapy and control groups was g=0.64 (95% CI: 0.47-0.80), which corresponds with a NNT of 3. These effects were maintained at 6 months or longer post randomization (g=0.27; 95%CI: 0.16-0.37). Specific types of psychotherapies that were found to be effective included cognitive behavior therapy (g=0.45; 95% CI: 0.29-0.60), life review therapy (g=0.59; 95% CI: 0.36-0.82) and problem-solving therapy (g=0.46; 95% CI: 0.18-0.74). Treatment compared to waiting list control groups resulted in larger effect sizes than treatments compared to care-as-usual and other control groups (p<0.05). Studies with lower quality resulted in higher effect sizes than high-quality studies (p<0.05). Direct comparisons between different types of psychotherapy suggested that cognitive behavior therapy and problem-solving therapy may be more effective than non-directive counseling and other psychotherapies may be less effective than other therapies. This should be considered with caution, however, because of the small number of studies. There were not enough studies to examine the long-term effects of psychotherapies and to compare psychotherapy with pharmacotherapy or combined treatments. We conclude that it is safe to assume that psychological therapies in general are effective in late-life depression, and this is especially well-established for cognitive behavior therapy and problem-solving therapy.

Indexed as

AgedCognitive Behavioral TherapyDepressionDepressive DisorderHumansPsychotherapyTreatment OutcomeCognitive behavior therapyDepressionLife reviewMeta-analysisOlder adultsPsychotherapy

Identifiers

PMID24973043
PMCPMC4537161
OpenAlexW2144688364

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.