CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 46Bipolar Disorder and TreatmentTreatment of Major DepressionSchizophrenia research and treatment

Prophylactic therapy with lithium in elderly patients with unipolar major depression

Wilkinson, David, Holmes, Clive, Woolford, Janet, Stammers, Susan, North, Janine·2002·International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
DOI 10.1002/gps.671
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To compare the relapse rate of elderly depressed patients taking low dose lithium as an additional therapy with antidepressant medication to those receiving antidepressant medication alone. METHODS: Fifty elderly subjects recovering from a major depressive illness taking continuation antidepressants were randomised, in a double blind study, to receive additional lithium carbonate or placebo and followed up over a two year period for evidence of relapse. RESULTS: Relapse rate was significantly greater in those subjects taking antidepressant medication alone compared to subjects taking additional lithium therapy. After six months four (17%) subjects taking antidepressant medication alone had relapsed, whereas none of the subjects taking additional lithium had relapsed. After two years eight (33%) subjects taking antidepressant medication alone had relapsed, whereas only one (4%) of the subjects taking additional lithium had relapsed. CONCLUSION: This preliminary study suggests that long-term low dose lithium therapy is well tolerated and protects elderly patients from a relapse of depressive illness.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1002/gps.671

Cites

16 of 16 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • The second criterion with which most authors agree is antidepressant treatment, with some mentioning it in general and others specifying change, upward adjustment, review, or potentiation.

    “The second criterion with which most authors agree is that related to antidepressant treatment, although some mention it in general (27, 33) and others specify whether they consider a change of antidepressant (8, 15, 26, 34, 40, 42, 48, 50), an upward adjustment (10, 17, 40, 45), a review of the treatment (24) or a potentiation (17).”

    From Administrative criteria in the relapse of depressive disorder: a critical appraisal (2026) · cites this paper as [40]

  • Necessity of ECT is mentioned 13 times as an administrative criterion.

    “and necessity of ECT 13 times (1, 8, 16, 17, 19, 21, 26, 27, 38, 40, 46, 48, 50, 52).”

    From Administrative criteria in the relapse of depressive disorder: a critical appraisal (2026) · cites this paper as [40]

  • The extracted medians showed substantial heterogeneity, ranging from very early relapse in severe or treatment-resistant samples with medians between 53 and 90 days to substantially longer intervals in maintenance-treated populations (218-294 days).

    “The extracted medians showed substantial heterogeneity, ranging from very early relapse in severe or treatment−resistant samples with medians between 53 and 90 days (14, 21, 23, 38) to substantially longer intervals in maintenance−treated populations (218–294 days) (33, 40, 45).”

    From Administrative criteria in the relapse of depressive disorder: a critical appraisal (2026) · cites this paper as [40]

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Wilkinson, D., Holmes, C., Woolford, J., Stammers, S., & North, J.
Affiliations
Moorgreen Hospital (GB)
Corresponding author
Wilkinson, David
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2002-06-27
Volume
17
Issue
7
Pages
619-622
ISSN
  • 0885-6230 (ISSN-L)
  • 1099-1166
DOI
10.1002/gps.671
OpenAlex
W2127211061
Cited by
46
References
16
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 3
FWCI
1.07
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Bipolar Disorder and Treatment
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
Keywords
lithium, prophylaxis, unipolar major depression, elderly patients, depression relapse, lithium carbonate, low-dose lithium, long-term tolerability
MeSH terms
Aged, Antidepressive Agents, Depressive Disorder, Double-Blind Method, Drug Therapy, Combination, Female, Humans, Male, Lithium Carbonate, Statistics, Nonparametric, Secondary Prevention

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review