Systematic review and meta-analysis of omega-3-fatty acids in elderly patients with depression

One of the typical symptoms of a psychological crisis is depression, an increasing concern in the elderly population. Although omega-3-polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are reported to be promising nutrients for treating depression, currently, there are no systematic reviews or meta-analyses of randomized control trials that provide critical evidence regarding the potential benefits of omega-3 fatty acids in elderly patients with depression. This analysis was conducted to provide evidence for the clinical application of omega-3 fatty acids in the treatment of depressive symptoms of elderly subjects older than 65 years. Seven databases were searched from their inception date until September 2016. Following this search, 6 studies were selected, which included 4605 patients (mean age, 76.97 years; male-female ratio = 3752:853; mean dose of omega 3 intake, 1.3 g/d). These results were divided into 2 categories: well-being mental health group and depressive group. In the well-being mental health group, the Hedges g was 0.12 (95% confidence interval, −0.05 to 0.29), which indicated no significant effect of n-3 PUFA supplementation on depressed mood compared with placebo. In the depressive group, the pooled Hedges g was −0.94 (95% CI, −1.37 to −0.50]) for the random-effects model, which indicated a large effect of n-3 PUFA supplementation on those with depressed mood compared with placebo. Although this review shows that omega-3 fatty acids are effective in the treatment of elderly depressed patients, the benefits of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation were significant only in the elderly patients with mild to moderate depression.