Prevalence of depression among young diabetics and its correlation with quality of diabetes control

Diabetes mellitus (DM), being a chronic and essentially incurable disease, is associated with a significant risk of mental disorders in persons affected. The aim of this paper was to answer the following questions: 1) do young people afflicted with type 1 DM are more depressive than healthy peers?; 2) is there a correlation between severity of depression and quality of diabetes control? The study encompassed a group of 100 patients (50 boys and 50 girls) aged 16-22.2 years (mean age 17.8 years; SD=1.6 years) with type 1 DM and 100 healthy age-matched peers. Symptoms of depression were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory; quality of management of diabetes was assessed by measuring the level of glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c), a generally accepted indicator of quality of metabolic control. HbA1c level was a criterion used to assign each patient to one of three subgroups, depending on quality of DM control attained in his or her case: 1) poor, 2) acceptable, 3) good. Results obtained indicate, that patients with DM are significantly more depressive than their healthy peers (p<0.05). Analysis of gender-dependent differences revealed a significantly higher level of depression in diabetic boys as compared with healthy boys (p<0.05). Significant differences in the level of depression were noticed among subgroups depending on quality of metabolic control. Diabetics who have their DM better controlled, present significantly less depressive symptoms (p<0.01). These findings relate to the entire study population and to the girls’ group. DM may constitute one of risk factors for development of depression. Depression may result in inadequate metabolic control. Ineffective management of DM may contribute to the development of depressive symptoms in young diabetics.