Extrapyramidal Side-Effects in Elderly Patients Exposed to Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

✍ Scribed by NIALL GORMLEY; LIAM WATTERS; BRIAN A. LAWLOR

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 82 KB
• Volume: 12
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6222
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1077(199703/04)12:2<139::aid-hup850>3.0.co;2-d

✦ Synopsis

Extrapyramidal side-eects (EPSE) are reported to occur in less than one per 1000 patients treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). However, it might be expected that EPSE might occur more frequently in elderly patients. We assessed the case notes of all elderly patients admitted to an acute psychiatric unit over a 3-year period and the charts of an equivalent number of elderly patients seen by a geriatric psychiatry consultation/liaison team on the general hospital's medical wards to determine the prevalence of EPSE following exposure to SSRIs. Records from 136 admissions and 140 consultations were assessed. A total of 67 patients were prescribed an SSRI. Four patients (6 per cent) developed an extrapyramidal reaction, two of whom had pre-existing Parkinson's disease, and all of whom came from the medically ill consultation group. In each case the adverse eect resolved completely after discontinuation of the SSRI. The prevalence of SSRI-associated EPSE may be higher in the elderly, and in particular in medically ill patients with underlying brain disease.