Investigators have found that about 25 percent of patients with diabetes have symptoms of depression, confirming the relationship between these two conditions. Rates of depression were similar across ethnic groups, but there were significant differences in the use of depression treatment across groups.
Dr Mary de Groot, of Ohio University, Athens, and colleagues examined rates of depressive symptoms, depression treatment, and satisfaction with treatment in a multicultural sample of 221 patients with type 1 (insulin-dependent) or type 2 (non-insulin-dependent diabetes).
Seventy-five had type 2 diabetes, 60 percent were women, the average age was 54 years and 53 percent were white.
Conservatively, 25.3 percent of the subjects had clinically significant depression. There were no significant differences in the rates of depression by ethnic group or diabetes type.