Long-term affective and cognitive outcome in depressed older adults.

Objective: The purpose of this naturalistic study was to examine the long-term (15 months and 4 years)cognitive and affective outcome following treatment with either cyclic antidepressants or ECT in depressed older adults. Method: Fifty-five patients meeting criteria for major depression were rated as to cognitive impairment and were treated as clinically indicated with either a cyclic antidepressant or ECT. Long-term outcome was determined throygh psychometric retesting 15 months (N=47)and approximate 4 years (N=44) after treatment