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Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is particularly common in elders and is associated with physical disability, memory difficulties, and mortality. Effective medications carry risks for falls, hip fractures, and memory impairment. To examine the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy, researchers randomized 134 adults aged 60 or older with GAD (mean age, 67; 62% married; mean education, 16 years) to up to 10 CBT sessions over 12 weeks, delivered by experienced therapists in primary-care clinics, or to biweekly supportive telephone calls.
Of the sample, 42% were taking psychotropic medications, and 45% had comorbid depression. At 3 months, CBT recipients had significantly greater improvement than controls on a depression measure and on the …