Depressive symptoms among participants with type 2 diabetes in Southeast Asia: A systematic review

Abstract

Objective: Diabetes and depression are two major non-communicable diseases that have increased in epidemic proportion globally. Depression is common in participants with diabetes causing increased morbidity and mortality. This article aimed to review co-morbid depression in participants with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Southeast Asia. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of published literature on the prevalence of depression among adult patients with T2D in Southeast Asia. A comprehensive search was performed using PubMed, Google Scholar and BanglaJOL for published studies between 1990 and 2014 with full text available in English. Study selection and data extraction were conducted independently by two researchers. A formal meta-analysis was not performed, and only summary findings of the relevant studies were presented. Results: A total of six studies including 3837 participants were included. The prevalence of depressive symptoms among participants with T2D ranged from 14% to 41%, with the highest prevalence of 60.8% among female T2D patients in Pakistan. The pooled prevalence of depressive symptoms in participants with T2D was 27.7% (95% confidence interval 21.4%–34.0%). Depressive symptoms were higher among females in four studies and associated with increasing age. Conclusion: Our review shows a high prevalence of depressive symptoms among participants with T2D in Southeast Asia. Further research is needed to clarify the association between depressive symptoms and diabetes in this population group, and efforts for prevention, early diagnosis and optimum management through innovative mechanisms of both conditions are warranted.