Mortality risk in T2DM increased with depression and/or anxiety

(HealthDay)—For individuals with type 2 diabetes, anxiety symptoms affect mortality risk, independently of depression symptoms, and attenuate the excess mortality associated with depression, according to a study published online Jan. 11 in Diabetes Care.

Kiyuri Naicker, from the University of Ottawa in Canada, and colleagues used data for 64,177 Norwegian adults from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study with linkage to the Norwegian Causes of Death Registry to examine excess mortality risk associated with symptoms of depression/anxiety comorbid with type 2 diabetes. They examined mortality risk over 18 years, from survey participation in 1995 through 2013.

The researchers identified three clear patterns: for individuals with diabetes, mortality risk increased in the presence of depression, anxiety, or both; mortality risk was lowest for symptoms of anxiety, higher for comorbid depression-anxiety, and highest for depression; and men with diabetes, but not women, had excess mortality risk associated with depression and anxiety. Men with diabetes and symptoms of depression only had the highest risk of death (hazard ratio, 3.47).

"This study provides evidence that symptoms of anxiety affect mortality risk in individuals with type 2 diabetes independently of symptoms of depression in addition to attenuating the relationship between depressive symptoms and mortality in these individuals," the authors write.