Depression With Type 2 Diabetes Tied To Skipping Meds

ISLAMABAD, Nov 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 03rd Nov, 2016 ) : People with type 2 diabetes who also have symptoms of depression are more likely than others skip their diabetes medications,a study said.

"Diabetes-related distress reflects the emotional and psychological reactions to the burden and stress associated with diabetes and its management," health news reported. Physical symptoms of depression like poor sleep or appetite as well as low energy can overlap with symptoms of diabetes and with side effects some patients blame on their diabetes medications, researchers said.

To identify the effects of distress and depression on whether patients adhere to their medications, researchers recruited 104 men and women with type 2 diabetes.

The participants answered questions about their diabetes- related emotional distress and depression symptoms, and researchers interviewed them for further detail about their depression experience.

Participants also provided blood samples for researchers to assess how well controlled their diabetes was. Just over 46 percent of participants had clinically significant diabetes distress, and 21 percent had some depression symptoms, although only five individuals met the criteria for major depressive disorder.

People with higher levels of self-reported or researcher- assessed depressive symptoms or distress tended to have fewer days on medication than others, the study found.