Brief ReportEffects of Nortriptyline and Paroxetine on Postural Sway in Depressed Elderly Patients
Section snippets
METHODS
The study was conducted on inpatient units and at an outpatient clinic at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, in Pittsburgh, PA. The subjects in the study were participating in a double-blind, randomized comparison of nortriptyline and paroxetine in the treatment of late-life depression. Methods used in patient recruitment, selection criteria, and clinical evaluation have been described in detail elsewhere.27 The selection criteria used were the following: age 60 and older; major
RESULTS
The study group consisted of 42 subjects, randomized to either nortriptyline (n=17) or paroxetine (n=25); most subjects were women (75%). There was no significant difference between the nortriptyline and paroxetine groups in age (73.3±7.7 years and 70.5±6.7 years, respectively), MMSE, CIRS-G, height, and weight (Table 1). At baseline, only one subject was an inpatient, and at Week 6, all subjects were outpatients. The baseline mean Ham-D score was significantly higher in patients in the
DISCUSSION
We examined postural sway before and after antidepressant treatment in a group of ambulatory elderly patients with major depressive disorder randomly assigned to treatment with nortriptyline or paroxetine as part of a prospective double-blind study. We found no significant change in the length of path (L) of center of pressure and the area included in the center of pressure (Ao) after treatment with either nortriptyline or paroxetine, replicating our earlier results in younger subjects.26 Our
CONCLUSIONS
We found no change in postural sway after 6 weeks' treatment with either nortriptyline or paroxetine in elderly depressed subjects in a prospective double-blind study, consistent with the results of an earlier study in younger subjects.26 Our results suggest that the association of falls with antidepressant treatment may not be due to increased postural sway caused by the antidepressant medications. Studies examining the effect of other SSRIs on postural sway are needed.
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Cited by (0)
This work was supported in part by grants MH01509, MH01613, MH52247, MH43832, MH37869, and MH00295 from the National Institute of Mental Health.