6-YEAR SURVIVAL OF DEPRESSED ELDERLY FINNS - A COMMUNITY STUDY

Background. The 6-year survival of depressed elderly (N = 290) Finns w as assessed and compared to that of a non-depressed population (N = 98 2), and the factors related to high mortality were analysed. Method. D epression was determined according to the DSM-III criteria, and a majo rity of the depressed population suffered from dysthymic disorder. Sur vival distributions were represented as Kaplan-Meier survival curves. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyse the simultaneou s relationships between mortality and certain variables. Results. The survival curves showed an increased mortality of the depressed elderly in both men and women. However, when the simultaneous relationships o f age, marital status, education, smoking, functional abilities, somat ic illnesses and depression were taken into account, depression did no t predict mortality. The predictors of mortality were high age, a high number of medicines, smoking, disability, male sex and occurrence of somatic illnesses, Conclusions. Evidence of once measured depression i s not predictive of increased mortality in an unselected elderly popul ation (60+) when the other factors known to influence survival probabi lity are taken into account. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.