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Depression in diabetes and obesity: racial/ethnic/gender issues in older adults
Dan G Blazer1, Sandra Moody-Ayers, Jennifer Craft-Morgan
1Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University School of Medicine, Box 3003, Durham, NC 27710, USA. blaze001@mc.duke.edu
Objectives:
This study focuses on the comorbidity between depression and diabetes, as well as depression and obesity, in a biracial community sample of older adults.
Methods:
The data are drawn from a cross-sectional survey of five counties in North Carolina, USA, part of a longitudinal study of morbidity and mortality among elders in the urban and rural south. During the first wave of the survey, 4162 persons 65+ years of age participated in an interview at their homes. During this interview, data were collected to assess demographics, functional status, cognitive status, depression and self-report of diabetes. In addition, subjects were asked to estimate their height and weight for the interviewers, from which data body mass index (BMI) was estimated.
Results:
In both uncontrolled and controlled analyses, female gender, lower education, functional impairment and cognitive impairment were associated with comorbid depression/diabetes and depression/high BMI. Age was not associated with comorbid depression/diabetes but younger age was associated with depression/cognitive impairment. African American race was strongly associated with depression/diabetes but not with depression/high BMI.
Conclusions:
More studies of comorbidity in the general population should be implemented to determine the relationship between these comorbid conditions and risk factors. Longitudinal studies are especially needed.
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