Assessment of Depression as Comorbidity in Diabetes Mellitus Patients using Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI II) Scale

Objective: The objective was to assess depression as comorbidity among patients of diabetes mellitus (DM) using Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI II) scale. Materials and Method: A cross sectional survey was conducted in Pakistan for 3 months targeting patients of diabetes mellitus DM and assessing their depression as a comorbidity using BDI II questionnaire. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics, cross tabulation and Chi square (X-2) tests were employed. Results: Majority of the target group was normal (N=58, 28%) while a quarter of the sample suffers from mild depression (N=54, 26.1%). Some suffered from moderate depression (N=43, 20.8%) followed by a tenth of segment who suffered from severe depression (N=20, 9.7%). Few were reported to suffer from extreme episodes of depression (N=4, 1.9%). The depression was also statistically associated with patients' BMI (<0.05), disease duration (<0.01), family history (<0.01) and glycated haemoglobin Hb(A1c) (<0.01). Conclusion: Likelihood of suffering from depression in DM is high. Modifiable factors i.e. BMI, HBA1c, etc. and non modifiable factors of DM such as genetic predisposition and disease duration play an important role in occurrence of depression as comorbidity. Educating the patients about DM can prove effective in dealing with the disease and its complications since patients will be prepared and be taught aggressive self management which may also prove helpful in managing comorbid depression.