Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42158158›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2026

Late-life difficult-to-treat depression and dementia subtypes: a naturalistic cohort study using electronic health records.

Beatriz Pozuelo Moyano, Vasiliki Orgeta, Armin von Gunten, Pierre Vandel, Ruimin Ma, Robert Stewart, Christoph Mueller

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Depression and anxiety in vascular dementia: an update.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Beatriz Pozuelo MoyanoService of Old Age Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Prilly, Switzerland.
Vasiliki OrgetaDivision of Psychiatry, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Armin von GuntenService of Old Age Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Prilly, Switzerland.
Pierre VandelService of Old Age Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Prilly, Switzerland.
Ruimin MaKing's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, London, United Kingdom.
Robert StewartKing's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, London, United Kingdom.
Christoph MuellerKing's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, London, United Kingdom.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Late-life difficult-to-treat depression (LL-DTD) and dementia frequently coexist in later life, but it remains unclear whether clinical and sociodemographic characteristics, as well as medication exposure patterns, differ across dementia subtypes among older adults with both conditions. Methods: We analysed anonymised electronic health records from a south London catchment area. We included patients aged ≥60 years at first recorded depression diagnosis with a dementia diagnosis. LL-DTD was defined as inadequate response to ≥2 antidepressant trials. Dementia diagnoses were classified as Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia (VD), mixed AD/VD, dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), or other/unspecified dementia. Around the index depressive episode, we captured sociodemographics, depressive symptoms, physical comorbidity, and medication indicators. We used multivariate logistic regression to examine cross-sectional correlates distinguishing dementia subtypes (with AD as reference) within the LL-DTD and dementia sample. We conducted stratified analyses comparing non-AD versus AD dementia by the temporal order of dementia and depression diagnoses. Results: Among 890 older adults with LL-DTD and dementia, AD was the most common subtype (33.9%), followed by mixed AD/VD (22.5%), VD (22.2%), other/unspecified dementia (15.2%), and DLB (6.2%). Depressive symptom profiles and psychotropic treatment history were broadly similar across subtypes. Compared with AD, VD was associated with greater functional impairment, while greater physical comorbidity burden was more evident in VD and mixed AD/VD. Discussion: Somatic multimorbidity and functional impairment provided the clearest clinical separation between subgroups, while depressive symptom patterns and medication exposure appeared largely non-specific across dementia subtypes. This underscores the importance of multimorbidity and physical health burden in understanding heterogeneity of dementia outcomes in LL-DTD.

Indexed as

Alzheimerdementia subtypesdementia with lewy bodiesdifficult-to-treat-depressionlate-life depressionvascular dementia

Identifiers

PMID42158158
PMCPMC13180921

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.