Objective To assess the effectiveness of psychotherapy for depression in older patients. Methods We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (1990 to August 2007), MEDLINE (1966 to August 2007), EMbase (1980 to August 2007), and CMB-disk (1990 to August 2007) to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which psychotherapy was used to treat depression in older patients. We screened the retrieved studies according to the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, evaluated the quality of included studies, and performed meta-analyses by using The Cochrane Collaboration’s RevMan 4.2 software. Results Ten RCTs were included. Compared with placebo, psychotherapy was more effective in decreasing depression score (SMD 0.63, 95%CI – 0.84 to – 0.42). Subgroup analysis showed that cognitive-behavioral therapy, reminiscence therapy, and general psychological therapy were more effective than placebo (SMD – 0.70, 95%CI – 1.12 to – 0.27; SMD – 0.54, 95%CI – 0.81 to – 0.26; SMD – 0.84, 95%CI – 1.34 to – 0.34, respectively). However, psychotherapy as an adjunct treatment could not significantly improve the effectiveness of antidepressant medication (SMD – 0.35, 95%CI – 0.74 to 0.05). There was no significant difference between cognitive-behavioral therapy and reminiscence therapy in improving depression symptoms (SMD 0.13, 95%CI – 0.30 to 0.56). The dropout rate was similar between patients treated with or without psychotherapy (RR 1.03, 95%CI 0.55 to 1.94). Conclusion Various kinds of psychotherapy are effective for depression in older patients. But psychotherapy as an adjunct treatment could not significantly improve the effectiveness of antidepressant medication.
