Is depression related to subsequent diabetes mellitus?
OBJECTIVE
To compare the risk of developing diabetes mellitus (DM) in the general population between subjects who had a depression and subjects who never had a depression.


METHODS
Retrospective cohort design. People with depression were diagnosed with a depression between 1975 and 1990; controls never had a depression. Both groups were followed for a diagnosis of type II diabetes until 2000. Data on 1334 depressed and 66 670 non-depressed subjects were available from a large general practice-based database.


RESULTS
No overall relation was found, but among males below age 50 there was a 78% increase in the rate of development of DM compared with non-depressed patients (hazard ratio 1.78, 95% CI: 1.21-2.62).


CONCLUSIONS
Depression in males between the age of 20 and 50 years is related to an increased risk of developing DM.
van den Akker
M
M
Department of General Practice, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands. marjan.vandenakker@hag.unimaas.nl
Schuurman
A
A
Metsemakers
J
J
Buntinx
F
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003710:Demography; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors