The Effect of a Primary Care Practice–Based Depression Intervention on Mortality in Older Adults
Authors: Brett D. Thombs, Roy C. Ziegelstein
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2008)

Letters5 February 2008The Effect of a Primary Care Practice–Based Depression Intervention on Mortality in Older AdultsBrett D. Thombs, PhD and Roy C. Ziegelstein, MDBrett D. Thombs, PhDFrom McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3T 1E4, and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21224. and Roy C. Ziegelstein, MDFrom McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3T 1E4, and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21224.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-148-3-200802050-00016 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Gallo and colleagues (1) recently reported that a depression care management intervention significantly reduced risk for 5-year mortality among older primary care patients who have major depression compared with patients receiving usual care. No deaths from suicide among patients with major depression occurred in either group. The results from this study are of potentially great importance. Despite many studies that report prospective relationships between depression and important outcomes, such as mortality, little evidence suggests that depression treatment reduces overall mortality rates.The statistical methods that Gallo and colleagues used for covariate adjustment, however, are known to result ...References1. Gallo JJ, Bogner HR, Morales KH, Post EP, Lin JY, Bruce ML. The effect of a primary care practice–based depression intervention on mortality in older adults: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2007;146:689-98. [PMID: 17502629] LinkGoogle Scholar2. Babyak MA. What you see may not be what you get: a brief, nontechnical introduction to overfitting in regression-type models. Psychosom Med. 2004;66:411-21. [PMID: 15184705] MedlineGoogle Scholar3. Statistical Guidelines. Annals of Internal Medicine. Accessed at www.annals.org/shared/author_info.html#multivariable-analysis on 4 December 2007. Google Scholar4. Thompson B. Stepwise regression and stepwise discriminant analysis need not apply here: a guidelines editorial. Educ Psychol Meas. 1995;55:525-34. CrossrefGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Brett D. Thombs, PhD; Roy C. Ziegelstein, MDAffiliations: From McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3T 1E4, and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21224.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoThe Effect of a Primary Care Practice–Based Depression Intervention on Mortality in Older Adults Joseph J. Gallo , Hillary R. Bogner , Knashawn H. Morales , Edward P. Post , Julia Y. Lin , and Martha L. Bruce The Effect of a Primary Care Practice–Based Depression Intervention on Mortality in Older Adults Joseph J. Gallo , Knashawn Morales , Edward Post , Hillary Bogner , Julia Lin , and Martha Bruce Metrics Cited byAssociation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, cortisol and depression in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseDiabetes, Depression, and Death: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Depression Treatment Program for Older Adults Based in Primary Care (PROSPECT) 5 February 2008Volume 148, Issue 3 Page: 244-245 Keywords Conflicts of interest Death rates Elderly Hazard ratio Mortality Prospective studies Regression analysis Risk management Statistical methods Suicide ePublished: 5 February 2008 Issue Published: 5 February 2008 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2008 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...