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Antidepressants delayed dementia, increased longevity in adults with Down syndrome

Among adults with Down syndrome, dementia onset was delayed and longevity was increased with antidepressant use, according to recent study findings published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Paul J. Patti, MA, of the George A. Jervis Clinic at the New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, and colleagues evaluated 357 adults (mean age, 46.3 years) with Down syndrome to determine the effect of antidepressants on longevity, age at dementia onset and survival after dementia onset.

Overall, 157 participants were prescribed antidepressants.

Among those who received antidepressants, the mean age of dementia onset was 53.75 years vs. 52.44 years for those not on antidepressants. Those receiving antidepressants were also more likely to live longer (mean, 5.13 years) after dementia onset vs. 4.7 years for those not on antidepressants; however, this was not statistically significant (P=.345). 

Overall, 160 participants (80 from each group) were diagnosed with dementia and 62% were prescribed a cholinesterase inhibitor.

Thirty-one percent of participants diagnosed with dementia experienced late-onset seizures.

“The present retrospective study showed an association between use of antidepressants, delayed onset of dementia, and increased longevity in a group of adults with Down syndrome,” the researchers wrote. “The findings also revealed that the incidence of late-onset seizures in Down syndrome adults with dementia was lower and their survival after the onset of seizures was longer than previously reported. Further studies are needed to confirm these associations, optimally in a clinical trial to confirm causality.”

Disclosure: The study was funded in part by the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disorders and the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene.