Undiagnosed Depression in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and Its Associated Factors

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of undiagnosed depression in the diabetic clinic and factors that may indicate the presence of depression. Materials and Methods: The Chinese version of the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-2) was used to assess the depressive symptoms of subjects who attended the diabetes education program of a regional teaching hospital in Chiayi County, Taiwan. Correlation with patient characteristics, symptoms and laboratory data were compared. Results: A total of 167 cases were analyzed. Twenty-two cases (13.17%) scored above or equal to 17, indicating at least mild depression. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that using injection to control blood glucose and total cholesterol levels were associated with higher BDI scores. Those who were told that they had heart disease and those who worked as manual laborers had less association with depression. Conclusion: The prevalence of undetected depression is high among type 2 diabetics. Routine screening for depression during outpatient visits is recommended.