| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
From the Divisions of Family Medicine and Epidemiology, Department of Community and Family Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
Abstract
The potential antidepressant effects of estrogen replacement therapy were examined cross-sectionally in a population of 1190 women 50 years and older living in Rancho Bernardo, California. Of the total, 294 (24.7%) were currently using estrogen. Among women aged 50-59 years, those currently using noncontraceptive estrogen had a significantly higher rate of Beck Depression Inventory scores of 13 or higher than all untreated women of the same age and higher mean depressive symptom scores than women who had never used estrogen. However, after age 60, mean depressive symptom scores and rates of categorical depression increased significantly in the untreated women but not in the treated women. A similar pattern was found when depressive symptom measures of treated and untreated women were stratified by the number of years since last menstrual period. Greater depressive symptoms in currently treated versus untreated women aged 50-59 years may reflect treatment selection bias, as a higher proportion of symptomatic depressed climacteric women seek treatment. The decreased risk of depressive symptoms after age 60 may reflect a long-term benefit of estrogen replacement or the selective discontinuation of estrogen by depressed women. In this cohort, reports of hot flushes, moods, and insomnia as the reason for estrogen use fell in parallel with a decline in depressive symptoms with increasing age, suggesting that hormone replacement therapy provided relief of physical symptoms, ie, possible causes of psychological distress. Clinical trials are needed to confirm these observations and postulated explanations.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  K. M. Goldstein, L. H. Harpole, K. M. Stechuchak, C. J. Coffman, H. B. Bosworth, D. C. Steffens, and L. A. Bastian Hormone Therapy Does Not Affect Depression Severity in Older Women Am J Geriatr Psychiatry, July 1, 2005; 13(7): 616 - 623. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. Breuer, C. Martucci, S. Wallenstein, A. Likourezos, L. S. Libow, A. Peterson, and B. Zumoff Relationship of Endogenous Levels of Sex Hormones to Cognition and Depression in Frail, Elderly Women Am J Geriatr Psychiatry, June 1, 2002; 10(3): 311 - 320. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 V. Senanarong, S. Vannasaeng, N. Poungvarin, S. Ploybutr, S. Udompunthurak, P. Jamjumras, L. Fairbanks, and J. L. Cummings Endogenous Estradiol in Elderly Individuals: Cognitive and Noncognitive Associations Arch Neurol, March 1, 2002; 59(3): 385 - 389. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
L. S. Schneider, G. W. Small, and C. M. Clary Estrogen Replacement Therapy and Antidepressant Response to Sertraline in Older Depressed Women Am J Geriatr Psychiatry, November 1, 2001; 9(4): 393 - 399. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 H. B. Bosworth, L. A. Bastian, M. N. Kuchibhatla, D. C. Steffens, C. M. McBride, C. S. Skinner, B. K. Rimer, and I. C. Siegler Depressive Symptoms, Menopausal Status, and Climacteric Symptoms in Women at Midlife Psychosom Med, July 1, 2001; 63(4): 603 - 608. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. Kritz-Silverstein, E. Barrett-Connor, and C. Corbeau Cross-sectional and Prospective Study of Exercise and Depressed Mood in the Elderly : The Rancho Bernardo Study Am. J. Epidemiol., March 15, 2001; 153(6): 596 - 603. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. M. Rice, A. B. Graves, S. M. McCurry, L. E. Gibbons, J. D. Bowen, W. C. McCormick, and E. B. Larson Postmenopausal Estrogen and Estrogen-Progestin Use and 2-Year Rate of Cognitive Change in a Cohort of Older Japanese American Women: The Kame Project Arch Intern Med, June 12, 2000; 160(11): 1641 - 1649. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
