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A biopsychosocial approach to evaluating the origins of late-life depression is heuristically valuable, a continual reminder of the many factors that contribute to the onset and persistence of clinically significant symptoms in late life.

The estimated odds of dying if depressed moved toward unity as other risk factors for mortality were controlled. Unlike other known risk factors for mortality in the elderly population, depression appears to be associated with mortality through a number of independent mechanisms, perhaps through complex feedback loops.

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