Annals of Family Medicine
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     


Annals of Family Medicine 7:414-421 (2009)
© 2009 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.
doi: 10.1370/afm.998

This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow In Brief
Right arrow TRACK Discussion: Submit a Comment
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when TRACK Comments are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Lin, E. H. B.
Right arrow Articles by Von Korff, M.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lin, E. H. B.
Right arrow Articles by Von Korff, M.
Related Collections
Right arrow Chronic illness
Right arrow Mental health
Right arrow Multimorbidity

Depression and Increased Mortality in Diabetes: Unexpected Causes of Death

Elizabeth H. B. Lin, MD, MPH1, Susan R. Heckbert, MD, Ph.D1,2, Carolyn M. Rutter, PhD1, Wayne J. Katon, MD3, Paul Ciechanowski, MD, MPH3, Evette J. Ludman, PhD1, Malia Oliver, BA1, Bessie A. Young, MD, MPH4, David K. McCulloch, MD1 and Michael Von Korff, ScD1

1 Group Health Research Institute, Seattle, Washington
2 Cardiovascular Health Research Unit, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
3 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington
4 Epidemiologic Research and Information Center, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Elizabeth H. B. Lin, MD, MPH, Group Health Research Institute, 1730 Minor Ave, Suite 1600 Seattle, WA 98101, lin.e{at}ghc.org

PURPOSE Recent evidence suggests that depression is linked to increased mortality among patients with diabetes. This study examines the association of depression with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in diabetes.

METHODS We conducted a prospective cohort study of primary care patients with type 2 diabetes at Group Health Cooperative in Washington state. We used the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to assess depression at baseline and reviewed medical records supplemented by the Washington state mortality registry to ascertain the causes of death.

RESULTS Among a cohort of 4,184 patients, 581 patients died during the follow-up period. Deaths occurred among 428 (12.9%) patients with no depression, among 88 (17.8%) patients with major depression, and among 65 (18.2%) patients with minor depression. Causes of death were grouped as cardiovascular disease, 42.7%; cancer, 26.9%; and deaths that were not due to cardiovascular disease or cancer, 30.5%. Infections, dementia, renal failure, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were the most frequent causes in the latter group. Adjusting for demographic characteristics, baseline major depression (relative to no depression) was significantly associated with all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR]=2.26, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.79–2.85), with cardiovascular mortality (HR = 2.00; 95% CI, 1.37–2.94), and with noncardiovascular, noncancer mortality (HR = 3.35; 95% CI, 2.30–4.89). After additional adjustment for baseline clinical characteristics and health habits, major depression was significantly associated only with all-cause mortality (HR = 1.52; 95% CI, 1.19–1.95) and with death not caused by cancer or atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (HR = 2.15; 95% CI, 1.43–3.24). Minor depression showed similar but nonsignificant associations.

CONCLUSIONS Patients with diabetes and coexisting depression face substantially elevated mortality risks beyond cardiovascular deaths.

Key Words: Diabetes • depression • mortality




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Diabetes CareHome page
E. H.B. Lin, C. M. Rutter, W. Katon, S. R. Heckbert, P. Ciechanowski, M. M. Oliver, E. J. Ludman, B. A. Young, L. H. Williams, D. K. McCulloch, et al.
Depression and Advanced Complications of Diabetes: A prospective cohort study
Diabetes Care, February 1, 2010; 33(2): 264 - 269.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Psychosom. Med.Home page
W. Katon, J. Russo, E. H. B. Lin, S. R. Heckbert, A. J. Karter, L. H. Williams, P. Ciechanowski, E. Ludman, and M. Von Korff
Diabetes and Poor Disease Control: Is Comorbid Depression Associated With Poor Medication Adherence or Lack of Treatment Intensification?
Psychosom Med, November 1, 2009; 71(9): 965 - 972.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Ann Fam MedHome page
R. S. Gotler
In This Issue: Critical Topics in Primary Care
Ann. Fam. Med, September 1, 2009; 7(5): 386 - 387.
[Full Text] [PDF]




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2009 by the Annals of Family Medicine.