Prevalence of Depression in Patients with Diabetic Retinopathy

Background and Objective: Diabetic retinopathy is one of the most important and debilitating complications of diabetes with an increasing prevalence in most countries. It has a dramatic effect on people's quality of life and increases the symptoms of anxiety and depression in patients with diabetes. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression in patients with diabetic retinopathy. Materials and Methods: This descriptive/ cross-sectional study was conducted on 245 patients with retinopathy referred to the ophthalmology clinic of Farshchian Hospital in Hamadan during 20192020. They were selected via available and consecutive sampling method and were evaluated for depression with the 21-item Beck questionnaire. Data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 16) at a 95% confidence level. Results: The mean scores of patients' age and duration of diabetes were reported as 54.47± 8.5 and 8.5 ± 4.15 years, respectively. In terms of gender, the majority of participants (58.7%) were female. The prevalence of depression in patients with diabetic retinopathy was obtained at 49.8% and in proliferative and non-proliferative retinopathy were 68.2% and 43%, respectively (P<0.001). The prevalence rates of depression in men and women were reported as 45.9% and 51.5% (P=0.428). Moreover, in patients treated with insulin and without insulin, the prevalence rates of depression were obtained at 50.4% and 49.2% (P=0.846). The correlation coefficients of depressive disorder with age and duration of diabetes were calculated at 0.123 (P=0.054) and 0.369 (P<0.001), respectively. Conclusion: Depression is one of the most serious problems in patients with diabetic retinopathy. As evidenced by the results of the present study, the prevalence of depression is significantly correlated with the severity of retinopathy and duration of diabetes.