Abstract

MOSHOMO, Thato; RIVERA, Yordanka Pina; BOSHE, Judith  and  RWEGERERA, Godfrey M.. The prevalence of depression and its associated factors among patients with diabetes mellitus attending a tertiary clinic in Gaborone, Botswana. S. Afr. j. psyc. [online]. 2022, vol.28, n.1, pp.1-10. ISSN 2078-6786.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v28i0.1647.

BACKGROUND: Depression is one of the commonest co-existing medical conditions among patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). A bidirectional relationship between depression and DM exists, complicating glycaemic control leading to an increase in diabetic complications. There is a dearth of information regarding the prevalence of depression and associated factors among patients with DM in BotswanaAIM: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression and associated factors among patients with DM. The study also assessed the association between depression and glycaemic controlSETTING: A tertiary diabetic referral clinic in Gaborone, BotswanaMETHOD: A sample of 260 randomly selected patients with DM was recruited in this cross-sectional study. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients were collected using a case report form. Depression was evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 scale. Multivariate regression analysis was used to determine factors significantly associated with depressionRESULTS: The mean age (standard deviation [s.d.]) of study participants was 58.4 (11.8) years, and the majority, 160/260 (61.5%), were females. The prevalence of depression was 30.4% and significantly associated with female sex (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 5.529, p-value = 0.004), three or more diabetes-related hospitalisations (AOR = 3.886, p-value = 0.049) and inversely associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥ 140 mmHg (AOR = 0.11, p-value = 0.001CONCLUSION: Depression is a common problem among patients with DM in our setting. Routine screening of depression in diabetic patients to enable early detection and treatment is recommended

Keywords : depression; diabetes mellitus; prevalence; glycaemic control; Botswana.

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