Diabetes and depression: Impact of depression on self-care among patients with type 2 diabetes

Abstract

Background: Diabetes is one of the many chronic medical conditions, which is adversely affected by comorbid depression. Research so far suggests an association between clinically significant levels of depression and a range of poorer self-care behaviors such as nonadherence to diet, exercise, and prescribed medications. Objective: (1) To study the prevalence of depression among type 2 diabetic patients; (2) to study the impact of depression on self-care among type 2 diabetic patients. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study carried out in Urban Health Center, Raichur, Karnataka, India. Totally, 166 patients with established type 2 diabetes mellitus attending the Urban Health Center were interviewed using a predesigned questionnaire based on Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities and Patient Health Questionnaire to assess depression. Data were entered in Microsoft Excel and analyzed using Epi Info 7. Results: The mean age of the study subjects was 54.8 years, and the mean duration of diabetes was 7.5 years. Only 18.7% of diabetic patients had done HbA1c test; 77.7% of diabetics were on oral hypoglycemic agents. Depression was found in 28.3% of participants. Nonadherence to treatment, smoking, and decreased physical activity was significantly associated to having depression (P < 0.05). Conclusion: This study showed high prevalence of depression in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Physicians caring diabetic patients must recognize and manage comorbid depression.