Prevalence of depressive symptoms among non insulin treated Greek type 2 diabetic subjects

BACKGROUND: Depression is common among diabetic subjects. We conducted the present study to estimate the prevalence of depression in subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Greece. METHODS: The study sample consisted of 320 T2D subjects without overt macrovascular disease attending the diabetes outpatient clinic of our hospital, from June 2007 to December 2007. Depressive symptoms were measured using the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory, modified for use in diabetic subjects. RESULTS: Of the study subjects 107 (33.4%) reported elevated depressive symptoms. More women than men with diabetes reported symptoms of depression (48.4% vs. 12.7%, P < 0.001). In the female study group, depressive symptoms were correlated with HbA(1c )(P = 0.04), and duration of diabetes (P = 0.004). In the male study group, univariate linear regression analysis showed no significant relationships between depressive symptoms and the testing variables. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of depression in Greek T2D subjects is high. Diabetic female subjects showed increased levels of depressive symptoms compared with male subjects. Independent risk factors of depressive symptoms in diabetic female subjects were diabetes duration and glycemic control.