NEW POTENTIALS FOR THE OPTIMIZATION OF THERAPY OF DEPRESSION IN GERONTOPSYCHIATRIC PRACTICE
The study was aimed to the comparative evaluation of the efficacy and safety of monotherapy with one of the new generation antidepressants and combined therapy with the use of similar antidepressants and citicoline for the treatment of depression in elderly patients. The study included patients of gerontopsychiatric hospital aged 60 to 79 years with mild to moderate depression. Citicoline was administered intravenously using courses of intravenous infusions, after that the drug was administered per os in the form of a solution. For the evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy (in accordance with a specially designed protocol), standardized rating scales were used. The results led to the following conclusion: the use of combination therapy allows to achieve more rapid development of therapeutic response and a more pronounced effect than monotherapy with antidepressant.