Study of depression in patients with diabetes compared to non diabetics among elderly population and its association with blood sugar, HbA1c values.

INTRODUCTION: Depression is very frequently observed in clinical practice especially in elderly individuals. Its prevalence is always underestimated and it is often undertreated resulting in a lot of suffering. It is one of important conditions resulting in reduced quality of living of diabetic subjects. AIM: To compare prevalence of depression in elderly patients with diabetes with elderly subjects without diabetes and find out its relation with blood sugar and HbA1c values. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Elderly patients (>65yrs) with diabetes attending out-patient departments as well as admitted in KIMS hospital were studied. RESULTS AND DATA ANALYSIS: Our study involved 300 elderly subjects. This included 146 diabetics and 154 nondiabetic subjects. Presence of depression in each group was evaluated by Zung depression scale. Depression was found in significantly more number of diabetic subjects than non- diabetic subjects and depression scores showed significant correlation with PPBS values but only insignificant correlation with FBS and HbA1c values. CONCLUSION: Depression in elderly diabetic population is significantly more compared to non-diabetic elderly population. Depression severity scores correlate with post prandial blood sugar values, but not with fasting blood sugar or glycated hemoglobin values.