highly significantp < 0.001
These findings, along with the observation that presence of multiple illnesses was significantly more common among the depressives, could support the contention that depressive illness in the elderly might have some relation to generalised degenerative changes that occur with advancing age in various body systems (Jacoby, 1982). Among the specific illnesses, the difference in prevalence between the patient and control groups was highly significant for hypertension (p < 0.001).