A new study reveals that diabetes patients with depression are 2.3 times less likely to perform self-care tasks that are necessary to stabilize their blood-sugar levels than those without depression.

According to the study, individuals with major depression are less committed to their recommended diets, spend less time exercising, and pay less attention to their glucose self-monitoring regimens than those not suffering from depression.

Self-Care Suffers
A correlation was also found between moderate and minor depression and poor self-care.  A depression severity of 6 out of 10 was associated with a half-day less of weekly exercise than a score of one.  Those who experienced a one point increase in the depression symptom severity score were 10 percent more likely to hve missed one dose of prescribed medication over the prior week.

By showing a consistent relationship between the stages of depression and non-adherence to diabetes self-care, the findings challenge prior conclusions that only major depression causes non-adherence to diabetes self-care.  In total, the study found that approximately 20 percent of those with type 2 diabetes suffered from major depression. Additionally, another two-thirds of those with diabetes suffered from minor depression.

For more information see: "Depression, Self-care, and Medication Adherence in Type 2 Diabetes," by Jeffrey S. Gonzalez, Ph.D., Steven A. Safren, Ph.D., Enrico Cagliero, M.D., et al, Diabetes Care, vol 30, no 9, September 2007, pp. 27.