Elderly depressed patients: what are their views on treatment options?

The aim of this study was to explore attitudes of elderly patients with depression receiving secondary psychiatric care towards different types of treatment for depression. One hundred patients, recruited from a large teaching hospital in Birmingham, were subjected to structured interviews at which their attitudes towards the effectiveness, likelihood of causing side-effects and acceptability of anti-depressant medication, ECT and psychotherapy were measured on a five-point Likert scale. Psychotherapy was considered both effective and acceptable by our patients although it is not widely available across the UK. Anti-depressants were also considered to be effective and acceptable although likely to cause side-effects. However, our patients did not think highly of ECT, either in its effectiveness or acceptability.