The Effect of a Primary Care Practice–Based Depression Intervention on Mortality in Older Adults

Abstract

Older primary care patients with major depression in practices that implemented depression care management were less likely to die over a 5-year period than were patients with major depression in usual care practices. The effect seemed to be limited to deaths due to cancer. The mechanism for such an effect is unclear and warrants further investigation. ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT00000367.