Gender Difference Regarding Anxiety and Depression among Patients of Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus of Bangalore Population

Type 2 diabetes mellitus doubles the odds of suffering from depressive illness. Co-morbid depression is associated with poorer outcomes in diabetes mellitus in terms of glycemic control, medication adherence, physical activity and quality of life. It has also been observed that the prevalence of depression was higher in females with diabetes compared with males.

Aim of the present study was to explore whether females with type-2 diabetes are affected by anxiety and depression more compared to their male counterparts.

Forty eight patients with type-2 diabetes have participated in this study. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to score the anxiety and depression among the study subjects. Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated to find out the correlation between different diabetes-related parameters and the scores on HADS-Anxiety and HADS Depression scale.

The mean age of the study subjects was 53.16±6.4 yrs. The study sample comprised of 31.25% females (n = 15) and 68.75% males (n = 33). The mean duration of type 2 diabetes among the subjects was 11.9(SD ±6.2) years, HADS was 14.7(SD±5.6) and the mean HbA1C was 9.59% (SD ± 2.2). We observed that women presented higher percentages of anxiety in comparison to men.

Patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus are more susceptible to depression and anxiety and they are positively correlated with the levels of HbA1c and also with the duration of the disease. Our study also revealed significantly higher anxiety scores among women patients.