Research & Discovery

February 2, 2018 | Anna Zarra Aldrich, Office of the Vice President for Research

New Grant to Study Harms and Effectiveness of Medications in Older Adults with Depression

Two pharmacy practice professors have been awarded $380,000 to assemble and work with a diverse panel of experts to study the treatment of depression for older adults.

Alzheimer's caregiver with elderly father. (iStock/UConn Photo)

Two University of Connecticut pharmacy practice professors have been awarded $380,000 from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Agency for Healthcare Research Quality to assemble and work with a diverse panel of experts to study the treatment of depression for older adults.

Dr. William Baker Jr. and Dr. Diana Sobieraj’s team will evaluate the evidence for the harms and effectiveness of medications for the treatment of older adults with major depressive disorder, as the field currently faces numerous challenges and discrepancies that limit its usefulness for practicing clinicians.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects 4.8 percent of adults over the age of 50 according to the National Institute of Mental Health, but studying and treating this population is challenging due to the lack of comprehensive and uniform literature.

The focus of this project is to quantify the harms associated with first-line antidepressants for the treatment of MDD in older patients. The project is in partnership with the American Geriatrics Society, which regularly compiles a list of medications that should be used with caution in older patients. Some of the most commonly prescribed antidepressants are on this list which leaves clinicians having to decide which of the therapies may be safest in their patient.

Drs. Baker and Sobieraj hope that as a result of this research, clinicians will have an evidence-based source of comparative data to inform clinical practice decisions when prescribing antidepressants to older patients. The research will also summarize what is currently known about the efficacy of antidepressants in older patients with MDD.

The PIs will work with a team of experts with various perspectives on the field. Dr. Craig Coleman, Dr. Adrian Hernandez and Dr. C. Michael White, all from the UConn School of Pharmacy, will provide methodical and administrative support. Dr. David Steffans, a practicing psychiatrist and expert in geriatric depression research from UConn Health, Dr. Karina Berg, a practicing geriatrician at UConn Health and Dr. Joseph Ross, a practicing physician with a background in drug-related harm from Yale University are also part of the research team.

Dr. Baker received his Pharm.D. from UConn and Dr. Sobieraj received her Pharm.D. from the University of Rhode Island. Their research focuses on systematic review and meta-analysis associated with the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and internal medicine.

This project is DHHS/AHRQ number HHSA290201500012I.