Bidirectional association for depression, dysglycemia in T1DM

(HealthDay)—For patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D), there is a bidirectional association between depression and severe hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, according to a study published online Dec. 18 in Diabetes Care.

Paola Gilsanz, Sc.D., from Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif., and colleagues examined the bidirectional associations between depression and severe dysglycemia among 3,742 patients with T1D using data from emergency room visits or hospitalizations from 1996 to 2015.

The researchers found that 41 percent of participants had depression and there were 376 (11 percent) and 641 (20 percent) cases of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, respectively, during the study period. Depression was strongly associated with increased risk of severe hyperglycemic and hypoglycemic events (hazard ratios, 2.47 and 1.89, respectively) in fully adjusted models. Within the first six months (hazard ratio_{hyperglycemia}, 7.14; hazard ratio_hypoglycemia, 5.58) to one year (hazard ratio_{hyperglycemia}, 5.16; hazard ratio_hypoglycemia, 4.05) after depression diagnosis, the correlation was strongest. Hyperglycemic and hypoglycemic events were correlated with increased risk of depression (hazard ratios, 2.43 and 1.74, respectively) in fully adjusted models specifying severe dysglycemia as the exposure.

"Depression and severe dysglycemia are associated bidirectionally among patients with T1D," the authors write.