gms | German Medical Science

15th Annual Meeting of the German Drug Utilisation Research Group (GAA)

Gesellschaft für Arzneimittelforschung und Arzneimittelepidemiologie

20.11. - 21.11.2008, Bonn

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Prevalence of depression in type II diabetics may be triggered mainly by co-morbidities rather than by diabetes mellitus itself

Die Prävalenz der Depression bei Typ2-Diabetikern könnte stärker durch Comorbiditäten als durch Diabetes mellitus selbst gesteuert werden

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  • corresponding author Christian von Vultée - IMS HEALTH GmbH & Co. OHG, Frankfurt/Main
  • Karel Kostev - IMS HEALTH GmbH & Co. OHG, Frankfurt/Main
  • Detlef Schröder-Bernhardi - IMS HEALTH GmbH & Co. OHG, Frankfurt/Main

Gesellschaft für Arzneimittelanwendungsforschung und Arzneimittelepidemiologie e.V. (GAA). 15. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Arzneimittelanwendungsforschung und Arzneimittelepidemiologie. Bonn, 20.-21.11.2008. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2008. Doc08gaa01

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/gaa2008/08gaa01.shtml

Published: November 6, 2008

© 2008 von Vultée et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Background and aim: The prevalence of depression among diabetics vs. non-diabetics was assessed. The aim of our study was to identify additional risk factors potentially triggering the development of depression in type II diabetics using anonymous patient level data extracted from electronic patient records.

Material and method: The patient record database IMS Disease Analyzer was selected to provide statutory health insurance patient data. Data from 159.264 diabetics and 1.188.753 non-diabetics were analyzed (07/2005-06/2008). Risk stratification comprised patient sub-groups of type II diabetics vs. non-diabetics and included gender, age and the co-morbidities hypertension, adiposity, lipoprotein metabolic disorder and diabetic neuropathy. Patient records were screened for depression related diagnoses. The Chi-square test was used for significance testing.

Results: Prevalence of depression was significantly higher among diabetics vs. non-diabetics (12.6% vs. 8.8%, p<0.001). Type II diabetics older than 60 years showed depressive disorders more often compared to type II diabetics <60 y (12.9% vs. 11.8%, p<0.001); this ratio was reversed in non-diabetics (7.4% vs. 10,0%, p<0.001). Female diabetics suffer from depression more often than males (16.4% vs. 8.5% p<0.001). Prevalence of depression in type II diabetics increased with each additional co-morbidity and reached a maximum in multi morbid patients (no co-morbidity: 6.8%; co-morbidities: hypertension, lipoprotein metabolism disorder, adiposity: 19.6%, p<0.001). Prevalence of depression in non-diabetic hypertension patients without further co-morbidities was 10.1% and 10.7% in those with lipoprotein metabolic disorder. Prevalence of depression in non-diabetics without any of the co-morbidities stated above was 4.4%.

Conclusion: The prevalence of depression in type II diabetics was shown to be higher vs. non-diabetics. However, our study results imply that other diseases than diabetes may be associated with this elevated prevalence rate. Further investigation is necessary to better understand the cause of depression in diabetics as well as in non-diabetics.