Depression Linked to Diabetes in Older Adults

Older adults who report symptoms of depression are more likely to develop diabetes than their counterparts without depression, according to a new study.

A group of researchers studied 5,201 people in the Cardiovascular Health Study, a long-term project of adults ≥65 years in four communities across the nation. Participants completed a 10-item depression-scale survey annually during 1989–1999.

Researchers looked for trends in the relationship between depression and diabetes. In particular, they wanted to know whether a single report of high depressive symptoms, an increase in depressive symptoms, or persistently high depressive symptoms were related to diabetes over time.

Analysis of data showed that depressive symptoms correlated closely with the incidence of type 2 diabetes. People with high depressive symptoms at baseline were 1.6 times more likely to develop diabetes than others, and those with persistently high symptoms of depression were 1.5 times more likely to develop diabetes. The link remained strong even when controlled for such factors as level of physical activity, smoking, drinking, body mass index, and levels of C-reactive protein.