Short Communication
Maryam Edraki ,Dr. Wael Foad,
Abstract
Introduction: Diabetes is a chronic condition with a high prevalence rate globally of 8.5% in 2014, and with the WHO projecting that it will be the seventh leading cause of death in 2030 (1). Prediabetes has even higher prevalence, with 84 million Americans aged 18 and older having prediabetes in 2015 (2). and Type 2 diabetes remains the most common type of diabetes, accounting for around 90% of patients with diabetes. Depression is also a prevalent condition, with prevalence rate of around 10% (3). Correlation between the 2 chronic conditions has been studied and epidemiologic studies have shown consistently that the 2 conditions occur together approximately twice as frequently as would be predicted by chance alone (4). Purpose: Primary aim is to examine the prevalence of depression in our patients with diabetes. Secondary aim is to check on the correlation between blood sugar control (HbA1c) and the estimated severity of depression. Methodology: Those patients who were attended to Diabetes Center and willing to participate to the survey were given PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire), which are well validated and sensitive tools in picking up depression respectively .After all the information was collated in months of October and November 2018, the researchers started looking into the results before making conclusions. If their scores were higher than 6 on this scale, then they were discussed among the leading clinicians in this study to decide further step of action within the endocrinology team. Results: 1- Out of all patients asked to fill in the questionnaire; only 93 patients filled in the given questionnaire 2- 43% of patients with diabetes has HbA1c < 7% 3- Among those who filled in the questionnaires; 15% of patients with HbA1C >7% scored as moderate or severely depressed on their PHQ-9 scales 4- This is as compared to only 9% of patients with HbA1C <7% scoring with similar severity (Chart 2). Conclusion: Despite the small scale of this observational study; nevertheless, this cross sectional observation study points more firmly to the positive correlation between the 2 chronic conditions, which is in-line with related previous research findings.We believe to the best of our knowledge that our study is probably the first study of its kind within the private sector and within a largely Arabic speaking population. Results are probably of more value than their face one; as the issues of mental illness tend to be rather stigmatic in this part of the world, and patients with mental health problems tend to either not talk about them or keep a brave face when talking about them. Our research has resulted in a few patients, who were identified according to their PHQ-9 findings to possibly have significant depression, to be supported to see the hospital psychiatrist. It is hoped that more and more patients would be encouraged to address any possible underlying mental health problems especially in light of this research. It is also hoped that treating any mental health problems in these patients would help better improve their diabetic control.