The Frequency of Antidepressant Medication Use in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

INTRODUCTION: To determine the rates of antidepressant drug usage and its associated factors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM).
METHODS: Patients with type 2 DM between the ages of 18 and 85 years who were followed-up in the DM outpatient clinic of a university hospital between May and September 2019 were included. The data of patients were analyzed retrospectively and age, dura­tion of DM, comorbid diseases, information on smoking, anthropometric measurements such as, height and weight and antidepressant drug use were assessed from the hospital system. Also, the patients were assesed about their application to the psychiatry clinic and whether or not they were using any antidepressant drug.
RESULTS: The study included 463 patients with type 2 DM and 24 (68.6%) of the patients were female. It was found that 56 (12.1%) of the patients applied to the psychiatry outpatient clinic in the last three years and 23 (41.1%) of these patients used antidepressant medication. Patients who did not apply to the psychiatry outpatient clinic were also found to be using antidepressant drugs, accounting for 48 (11.8%) of all patients. Forty-eight (67.7%) of the antidepressant drug users were female and 23 (32.3%) were male (p=0.002). Median body mass index was 32.4 (24.6–45.9) kg/m2 in antidepressant drug users and 30.3 (19.0–52.0) kg/m2 in non-users (p=0.024).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The frequency of antidepressant use in DM patients is quite common, depression and type 2 DM are intertwined diseases.