Among 8134 European elderly (58 % women, mean age 73 years old), median follow-up was 7.83 years. Kaplan-Meier curves showed decreasing all-cause survival with increasing numbers of comorbid physical diseases in both two groups, with higher mortality in the depression group than the non-depression group. Cox models revealed that individuals with depression and 0, 1, 2, or ≥ 3 physical diseases had higher mortality risks than those without depression and physical diseases. The Apriori algorithm identified 11 comorbidity patterns associated with depression, with stroke (HR = 1.94, 95 % CI: 1.20–3.12) and fractures (HR = 1.90, 95 % CI: 1.33–2.72) posing the highest all-cause mortality risks for individuals with depression.
Depressed patients with comorbid diseases exhibit significantly higher mortality risks – and patients with medical illness and depression have a higher mortality than those without
