Anxiety and depression in diabetics: a comparative analysis by gender

INTRODUCTION: Diabetes Mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion and/or action. Studies indicate that type 2 Diabetes Mellitus is related to the increased prevalence of mental health problems, especially depression and anxiety. Diagnosis is associated with an approximately 27% increase on the risk of developing depression, when compared with undiagnosed cases. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of anxiety and depression in diabetics patients, to compare and correlate these aspects between men and women. METHODOLOGY: Participants were recruited at the Mutirao Diabetes, na event promoted in 2018 by the Municipal Health Secretariat of Goiânia/GO. After this first contact, volunteers were invited through phone calls for a blood exams and interviews. Patients with age between 40 and 60 years of both sexes were selected for the study. Symptoms related to depression were assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), which discriminates the presence or absence of depressive behaviour. Anxiety was assessed by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (IDATE), which assesses symptoms related to anxiety. Blood glucose was measured and the adopted reference value was ≤99 mg/dL. Mean tests, standard deviation, Student’s t-test and Mann-Whitney tests were performed to compare means between groups and Pearson and Spearman bivariate correlation. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 96 individuals, with a mean age of 56.2 ± 9.6 years, 55.3% female and 42.7% male, and with a mean time of disease (diabetes) of 10.0 ± 7.6 years. The results showed that most of the subjects (66.7%) had their blood glucose above normal values (151.4 ± 76.6), and higher levels of trait anxiety than the reference values (43, 4 ± 6.9). When compared by gender, women had higher depression scores than men (10.4 ± 7.0; 7.8 ± 4.8; p <0.05). Stratifying the groups by the presence of depressive symptoms, it was found that both men and women had shown significant difference in trait anxiety, on the IDATE test, that being aggravated in the presence of depressive symptoms. Correlation analysis showed a weak and positive correlation between anxiety and glycemia rates (r = 0.220; p <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It can be concluded that diabetes is directly related to biopsychosocial factors, especially depression scores and anxiety levels. The study also confirmed that diabetic women tend to have higher depression scores that diabetic individuals, despite the gender but that have depression, also have higher anxiety levels.