Therapeutic rationale of antidepressant use in the elderly

Despite the dramatic increase of the number of elderly patients, and that depression represents one of the most important comorbidity in this age, psychopharmacological treatment always tends to be underused in this age. In this paper we reviewed the problems in the usage of antidepressant drugs in elderly patients, focusing on the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes occurring with aging, which have to be carefully take into account to reduce side effects, and to maintain the same effectiveness of young and adult populations.