Sociodemographic, clinical and lifestyle factors associated with psychiatric illness among individuals with diabetes

Abstract

The aims of this study were to assess the prevalence of psychiatric illness among patients with diabetes and to elucidate the association of sociodemographic, clinical and lifestyle factors with the presence of psychiatric illness.A random sample of 262 patients with diabetes (age 50.48 ± 12.02 years, duration of diabetes 5.85 ± 5.36 years, 55 % females, 89 % type 2 diabetes) was accrued for the study after taking informed consent and was assessed for clinically relevant anxiety and depression using Aga Khan University Anxiety and Depression Scale (AKUADS). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used for determining the association of various factors with psychiatric illness.A high prevalence of clinically significant levels of anxiety and depression of 56.49 % (95 % CI=50.50–62.48 %) as defined by a score of ≥ 19 on AKUADS was found in the study population. Factors significantly associated with a higher likelihood of having scores indicative of presence of anxiety and depression included younger age, female sex, being unmarried, being from urban locality, low income, unemployment, poor glycemic control, being a non-smoker and being physically inactive. In conclusion, Age, marital status, locality, income, employment status, glycemic control, smoking and physical activity are associated with an increased likelihood of meeting criteria for psychiatric illness highlighting the need of routine screening of patients with diabetes.