Psych CASC / OSCE · Old age psychiatry — mood disorders
Explain late-life depression and SSRI plan to patient and daughter — CASC communication station
MRCPsych/FRANZCP-style communication station: explain late-life depression, differentiate bereavement and cognitive concerns, outline sertraline start with older-adult monitoring, and check understanding.
On this page
Study tools
Target exams
Station brief
Format. Communication station, approximately 7–10 minutes active time after reading. You are the psychiatry registrar in the old-age outpatient clinic. [4]
Candidate instructions. Explain late-life major depression in plain language; address the daughter's fear that this is "only grief" or "early dementia"; outline starting sertraline with older-adult cautions (including sodium); discuss early worsening of suicidal thoughts and how to seek help; outline approximate duration after recovery; check understanding. Examiner plays the patient; a second examiner or role-player may be the daughter. [1][4]
References5ShowHide
- [1]Taylor WD Clinical practice. Depression in the elderly N Engl J Med, 2014.PMID 25251617
- [2]Fabian TJ, Amico JA, Kroboth PD, et al. Paroxetine-induced hyponatremia in older adults: a 12-week prospective study Arch Intern Med, 2004.PMID 14769630
- [3]Reynolds CF 3rd, Dew MA, Pollock BG, et al. Maintenance treatment of major depression in old age N Engl J Med, 2006.PMID 16540613
- [4]Malhi GS, Bell E, Bassett D, et al. The 2020 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for mood disorders Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 2021.PMID 33353391
- [5]Conwell Y, Van Orden K, Caine ED Suicide in older adults Psychiatr Clin North Am, 2011.PMID 21536168