Depression not as big a killer as previously thought
Since the 1980s, numerous studies have appeared which suggest a high risk of mortality among people suffering from depression. This has generally been taken as evidence that depression directly causes death. As part of their study, researchers Beyon Miloyan and Eiko Fried re-evaluated this supposed link by reassessing 293 studies derived from 15 systematic reviews. The studies in question comprised over 3.6 million participants and 400,000 deaths. Despite the widespread suggestion that depression leads to more death, at least 95% of the studies the researchers investigated were found to be of insufficient quality. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, the researchers identified a pronounced publication bias. Specifically, studies that identified the largest associations between depression and mortality featured small samples, a low number of deaths, and short follow-up periods. Moreover, the researchers discovered that only about 5% of the 293 studies adjusted their statistic...