Duration of diabetes and its association with depression in later life: The Health in Men Study (HIMS)

© 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Objective To examine if diabetes and duration of diabetes are direct or indirect causes of depression in later life. Research design and methods Cross-sectional study of a community-derived sample of 5462 men aged 70-89 years. Men with 'current depression' scored 7 or more on the abbreviated Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), whereas men with 'ever depression' were either currently depressed or reported history or treatment for past depression. The presence of diabetes was established by self-reported history, fasting glucose =7 mmol/L (126 mg/dL), or use of insulin or hypoglycemic drugs. Duration of diabetes relied on self-report. Other measured factors included age, place of birth, education, smoking history, and the FRAIL scale. Results Diabetes was associated with increased odds ratio (OR) of ever (OR = 1.49, 95%CI = 1.25, 1.76) and current depression (OR = 1.94, 95%CI = 1.15, 2.48). The association between duration of diabetes and risk of current depression was 'J-shaped' with odds ratios of 1.92 (95%CI = 1.44, 2.54), 1.56 (95%CI = 0.89, 2.75), 2.49 (95%CI = 1.16, 5.32) and 3.13 (95%CI = 1.28, 7.63) for