Adults with diabetes are considerable more likely to experience depression, anxiety and other disorders that cause serious psychological distress than those without diabetes, researchers report.

Dr. K. H. McVeigh, of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and colleagues queried 9,590 people as part of the 2003 New York City Community Health Survey.

Responses to six questions regarding sadness, nervousness and other feelings were the basis for classifying individuals as having serious psychological distress, which the researchers termed SPD.

The team found that 9 percent of the participants had diabetes, and 5 percent had SPD. The prevalence of SPD was 10.4 percent among people with diabetes.

Even after adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, marital status and income, the odds of having SPD was 90 percent higher among diabetic subjects, according to an article in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Having SPD along with diabetes was accompanied by a host of problems.

McVeigh’s group found that these individuals were more likely to be divorced, separated or widowed, report a household income below $25,000 per year, or lack private insurance. They were also more likely to not fill prescriptions or see a doctor because of cost.

An accompanying editorial points out that people with both diabetes and SPD “face formidable economic and social obstacles to receiving appropriate health care.”

Thus “increased use of more effective methods for detecting and managing depression and other mental disorders might be particularly beneficial for persons with diabetes.”

SOURCE: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, November 25, 2004.