Association between diabetes mellitus and depressive symptoms in the Brazilian population

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of current depressive symptoms in people with diabetes mellitus and their association with the disease. METHODS: Data were collected from the Brazilian National Health Survey (Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde - PNS), a cross-sectional, population-based study conducted in 2013. Study participants were selected by simple random cluster sampling in three stages: census tracts, households, and residents aged ≥ 18 years. The presence of diabetes was self-reported, whereas the presence of current depressive symptoms was determined by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and mean scores of this questionnaire were calculated for the variables assessed. Tobit regression was used to evaluate variation in these individuals. RESULTS: Of the 60,202 interviewees, 6.03% (n = 3,636) reported diabetes mellitus. The disease was more frequent in female, older, widowed, obese and with incomplete elementary education. Depression symptoms were mild-to-moderately severe in 22% of the diabetics. The severity of current depressive symptoms was higher in individuals that were female (PHQ-9 mean = 3.35), older adults (PHQ-9 mean = 3.01), indigenous (PHQ-9 mean = 3.46), separated/divorced (PHQ-9 mean = 3.13), widowed (PHQ-9 mean = 3.39), obese (PHQ-9 mean = 3.13) and with incomplete primary education (PHQ-9 mean = 3.21). Higher severity of depressive symptoms was associated with the use of insulin and with coma (PHQ-9 mean = 8.32), limb amputation (PHQ-9 mean = 7.55), circulatory problems (PHQ-9 mean = 6.94), infarction (PHQ-9 mean = 6.83), diabetic foot (PHQ-9 mean = 6.62), and kidney problems (PHQ-9 mean = 6.68). The severity of current depressive symptoms was associated with diabetes severity and degree of limitation in activities of daily living (PHQ-9 mean = 10.62). CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to improve depressive symptoms should be prioritized in people with diabetes are female, older adults, indigenous, widowed, separated/divorced, obese and with incomplete elementary education.