Prevalence of Depression among Type-II Diabetic Patients Attending the Diabetic Clinic at Arar National Guard Primary Health Care Center, Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Depression is a common comorbidity in type-II diabetic patients, which if undiagnosed leads to poor clinical outcomes. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and risk factors of depression among type-II diabetic patients attending the National Guard Diabetic Clinic in Arar city. Subjects and methods. This cross-sectional study included every third type-II diabetic patient attending the National Guard Primary Health Care Center between the 1(st) of January and 31(st) of March 2019. Participants were interviewed using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9). Patients who scored ≥5 were considered to have depression. Chi-square test (χ(2)) was used to compare differences between categorical variables. P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Of the total 422 diabetic patients approached for this study, 397 provided complete responses (94% response rate). Of these, 37% had depression: 23% mild, 9% moderate, and 5% severe. Diabetic patients with low education, poor income, and long duration of diabetes mellitus were found to be at higher risk of depression. Poor compliance with physical activities, diet regimen, family history of DM, and the presence of complications was also significantly associated with depression. On logistic regression analysis, low family income, duration of DM, poor compliance to physical activity, and presence of complications as neuropathy or libido were the main predictors of depression in diabetic patients. CONCLUSION: More than one-third of type-II diabetic patients had depression. Regular screening of type-II diabetic patients for depression is a necessity, as it can affect the clinical outcome.