Depression among type 2 diabetic patients

Background & Objectives: Diabetes and depression are highly prevalent conditions and have significant impact on health outcomes. The combination of depression with type 2 diabetes is a public health problem. Therefore, we aimed to assess some socio-demographic characteristics of type 2 diabetes and to investigate the relationship between type 2 diabetes and depression among patients aged from 40 to 60 years old. Methods: 125 patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes attending diabetes clinics in the Al-Zahraa hospital were invited to participate in this cross-sectional study. Patients were interviewed using structured questionnaires to gather data on socio-demographics, clinical, self care compliance, medication usage, and diabetes complications. The MADRS was administered as a screening tool for depression level evaluation. Binary logistic regression model was used to examine association between predictor variables and risk of depression among diagnosed type 2 diabetes at 95% C.I. and P < 0.05. Results: One hundred and twenty five participants completed the interview. More than half of participants were females (58.4%) and the mean age was 48 (sd = 5.9), 47.2% hypertensive, and 59.2% on insulin. More than two third (74.4%) of patients were depressed; (24.8% mild, 37.6% moderate and 12% severely depressed). Almost four out of five patients (88.8%) had diabetes complications, Depression was strongly associated with neuropathy, age, retinopathy, sex and cardiac complications. However, the likelihood of depression was not associated with nephropathy, hypertension and sexual dysfunction. Conclusion: The current study demonstrates a strong correlation between depression and diabetes particularly complications. In particular, patients who are depressed tended to have poorer self-care, more severe physical symptoms and were less likely to adhere to prescribed care regimens. These findings raise the possibility that improving the mental health as part of a comprehensive management plan for diabetes may improve the overall long term outcomes of these patients