Depression was associated with higher mortality across cohort studies
Depression was linked to higher mortality; treatment associations in the same review need cautious interpretation.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Across cohort studies, depression was associated with higher mortality from any cause, including natural causes and suicide. Associations also varied with other health conditions and features of depression. Antidepressant and electroconvulsive therapy use were linked to lower mortality, but those treatment comparisons do not establish that treatment itself caused the difference.
This abstract-based summary describes observational associations, which cannot establish causation. Results varied greatly between studies, and treatment groups may differ in ways the abstract does not allow readers to assess.
What researchers found
Relative risk of death from any cause
Depression versus no depression or general-population controls; follow-up not reported. This is relative risk: one means equal risk and higher values mean greater risk, without showing the absolute chance of death.
Clinical differences mattered
Mortality remained higher with depression when groups were matched for other health conditions. Psychotic symptoms and treatment resistance were each associated with additional mortality risk compared with depression without the corresponding feature.
Interpreting treatment associations
The medication and electroconvulsive therapy analyses compared people who received those treatments with people who did not. These comparisons provide observational evidence, rather than randomized tests of whether treatment lowers mortality.
The original publication
All-cause and cause-specific mortality in people with depression: a large-scale systematic review and meta-analysis of relative risk and aggravating or attenuating factors, including antidepressant treatment.
Chan JKN, Solmi M, Lo HKY et al.
World Psychiatry · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40948054
- Record checked
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