Effectiveness of late‐life depression interventions on functional limitations: A systematic review

Depression is one of the most prevalent mental disorders in older adults and leads to considerable decreases in health, well‐being, and impaired functioning. Intervention studies have focused on the effects on symptomatic recovery, and most do not include functional recovery as an outcome. Reduction of functional limitations as a treatment goal in old‐age psychiatry aligns with the values of older persons. The objective of this review was therefore to evaluate the effectiveness of late‐life depression interventions on functional limitations. This systematic review identified 15 randomized controlled trials in which the effectiveness of different interventions on functional limitations was evaluated in patients with late‐life depression. The interventions were categorized into four categories: psychological interventions, drug treatment, physical exercise, and collaborative care. Multicomponent and collaborative‐care interventions appear to be the most promising for improvement of functional limitations, particularly in primary care and community‐dwelling populations of older persons with symptoms of depression. There is, however, a lack of evidence regarding studies in specialized mental health care.