PREDICTORS OF INCREASED MORTALITY IN ELDERLY DEPRESSED-PATIENTS

Five-year standardized mortality rates for a cohort of elderly depress ed patients in Perth, Western Australia, were greater than expected (M = 2.047, F = 1.658). These results were very similar to the 4-year ra tes in a London study (Murphy et al., 1988), as were the causes of dea th. There was a significantly greater chance of being alive at the end of 5 years if, on entry to the study, the patients were: female, less than 75 years of age, had no impairment of mobility, had a diagnosis of major depression with melancholia and psychosis, and had a good rec overy from the depressive illness at the end of 12 months. Impairment of mobility was the best physical status indicator of subsequent morta lity. Two measures of patient's self-assessment of physical status wer e as good predictors of mortality as a physician assessment of health, other than impairment of mobility.