Late-Life Depression
Conditions
Keywords
late-life depression, recurrence of depression, cognition, N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
Brief summary
To investigate whether fish oil supplementation, compared to placebo (olive oil), could have better effects on depression course and cognitive function in older people with major depression.
Detailed description
Patients with late-life depression were reported cognitive impairment, especially in information-processing speed, working memory, attention and episodic memory, even after depressive symptoms subside and some of them further progress to dementia in two to four years. Several epidemiological studies, fatty acid comparison studies, animal studies, and clinical trials found that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were significantly associated with the major depression, cognitive decline in general population and Alzheimer's disease. Until now, there is no study investigating the effects of n-3 PUFAs on depressive symptoms and cognition in patients with late-life depression. Thus, the aims of this study were to investigate whether fish oil supplementation, compared to placebo (olive oil), could have better effects on depression course and cognitive function in older people with major depression.
Interventions
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENTN-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
Three capsules per day. Each capsule included 600mg eicosapentanoic acid (20:5n-3), 400 mg of docosahexanoic acid (22:6n-3), tertiary-butylhydroquinone 0.2 mg/g and tocopherols 2 mg/g.
Sponsors
National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan
Taipei City Psychiatric Center, Taiwan
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
QUADRUPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
60 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* An age range of 60 years old or over; * A previous diagnosis of major depressive disorder according to the Chinese version of Structured Clinical Interview for DSM IV-TR Axis-I Disorder; * Depressive symptoms were stable for at least three consecutive weeks and the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score less or equal to 10. * Capacity to provide informed consent.
Exclusion criteria
* People with severe or acute medical illness ( such as metastatic cancer, brain tumor, decompensated cardiac, hepatic, or renal failure, or myocardial infarction or stroke) within the 3 months preceding the study. * Those who had neurological disorders involving central nervous system, such as delirium, Parkinson's disease, aphasia or multiple sclerosis) * Prominent cognitive impairment, defined as the Chinese version of Mini-Mental State examination score less than 17. * People with alcoholism, defined by a score of 8 or higher in male and of 6 or higher in female on the Chinese version of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) questionnaire.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Recurrence of depression | week 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48 | Definition of recurrence of depression (between last visit and current visit): 1. Fulfilled diagnosis of major depressive episode according to DSM-IV-TR 2. Score of sucide subscale in 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating was 3 or over 3. Hospitalization due to depression |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change of cognitive function | Week 48 | Comparison of cognitive function at week 48 between two groups after adjustment for age, gender, education and baseline cognitive funciton |
Countries
Taiwan
Outcome results
None listed