title: [Diabetes, alexithymia and depression].
abstract: Diabetes Mellitus and Depression are two increasing pathologies. Several articles indicate that Depression in Diabetes is twice as important as in the general population. Yet, Depression in diabetic patients is underdiagnosed. On the other hand, Alexithymia might be a factor associated to Depression. We therefore carried out a research in order to evaluate the relationship between Depression and Alexithymia in diabetic patients at the Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires. We performed psychiatric interviews, which led to diagnoses based on DSM-IV, and applied the following scales: HAM-D, TAS-26, DBI and M.I.N.I. We evaluated 59 patients who had been diagnosed Type II Diabetes. Crossing variables, we observed a negative correlation between the results of Beck's Depression Inventory and those of Hamilton's Depression Scale. On the contrary, these last results showed a positive correlation with results obtained through TAS-26, which reveals a significant relationship between Depression and the presence of Alexithymia. According to the link between Depression, Diabetes Mellitus II and Alexithymia and considering that Alexithymia has consequences on the illness evolution and the treatment of both pathologies, it seems important to determine when and how to include its evaluation.
authors: Servicio de Psiquiatría del Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires.
authors: José
authors: J
authors: Faccioli
authors: Mónica
authors: M
authors: Guinzbourg
authors: Adriana
authors: A
authors: Alvarez
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Finkelsztein
authors: Alfredo
authors: A
authors: Job
authors: León
authors: L
authors: Litwak
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000150:complications*; D000368:Aged; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications*; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult