Prevalence of Depression among Patients Attending Babylon Diabetic Center

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus(DM) is one of highly prevalent medical illnesses and it is a major cause of morbidity, mortality and economic expense worldwide.Many studies have shown a relationship between diabetes and psychiatric disorders especially depression. Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the rate of depression among diabetic patients followed at the Babylon Diabetic Center in Marjan Teaching Hospital. Method: This hospital-based cross-sectional study was carried out in a tertiary centre (in Marjan Teaching Hospital). 200 patients with DM seen at the Babylon Diabetic Center in Marjan Teaching Hospital from August 2013 to April 2014 were included in this study. Beck Depression Inventory Scale was used to diagnose and assess the severity of depression. Socio-Demographic characteristics, medical history and diabetic features were obtained from diabetic patients.Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 18. Categorical variables were presented as frequencies and percentages. Continuous variables were presented as means with their 95% confidence interval (CI). The Pearson's chi-square test (x2) test was used to determine the associations between categorical variables. Analysis of Variance One Way (ANOVA) was used to compare means between more than two groups. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: Out of 200 diabetic patients, the overall mean age of patients was 49.44± 11.44 years old.(63.5%) of the patients were females. According to Beck Depression Index, 87 (43.53%) had mild depression, 61 (30.5%) had moderate depression, meanwhile, only 52 (26.0%) had severe depression. There were significant associations between depression and type of DM, type of treatment as well as duration of DM. Conclusion: Diabetes mellitus is associated with increased risk of depression. Patients with long duration of DM and poor glycemic control are more susceptible of major depressive disorder which is in turn adversely affecting the physical health of diabetic patients; therefore, the treating physicians should be aware of the cooccurrence of depression and diabetes.