Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Depression is a frequent pathology in elderly subjects, due to lifestyle changes, age and the high frequency of comorbidities. Our study aimed to assess the prevalence of depression in a group of elderly diabetics and to investigate its impact on diabetes control.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, conducted in a group of 200 type 2 diabetic patients, aged 70 years or more. We screened for depression using the 15-point geriatric depression scale (GDS15). The diagnosis of depression was made if the score was< 5. Depression was considered mild to moderate if the score was between 5 and 9 and severe if the score was ≥ 10.

Results: The meanage was of 74.7±4.2 years, ranging from 70 to 90 years. A female predominance wasn oted with a sex ratio M/F=0.62. The mean duration of diabetes was 16.5±9.26 years. The mean GDS15 score was 4.35±2.8. Depression was diagnosed in 45.5% of patients. It was severe in 7.5% of cases and it was more frequent in the 75-80 yearsage group. It was more frequent in women then in men (60.2% vs 22.1%, P<0.001). Patients with a GDS15 score below 5 had a better glycemic control than those with GDS15 scores more then 5 (51.4% vs 34.1%, P=0.014). Likewise, we found a statistically significant relationship between depression on one hand and the occurrence of hypoglycemia (P<0.001), the presence of diabetic retinopathy (P=0.04) and diabetic neuropathy (P=0.004) on the other hand.

Conclusion: Systematic screening and appropriate management of depression are essential in elderly diabetic patients in order to improve patients’ quality of life.