Depression is not associated with diabetes control in minority elderly

We investigated the longitudinal association of depression, with and without cognitive dysfunction, with hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in a predominantly minority cohort.

There were 613 participants. Presence of depression was defined by a score ≥7 on the Short-CARE depression scale. We tested participants for executive dysfunction using the Color Trails Test (CTT), part 2, and for memory dysfunction using the total recall task of the Selective Reminding Test (TR-SRT). We classified performance in these tests as abnormal based on standardized score cutoffs (<16th percentile and one standard deviation below the sample mean). Random effects models were used to compare repeated measures of the diabetes control measures between those with depression versus those without depression and ever versus never cognitively impaired.

Baseline depression was present in 36% of participants. Over a median follow-up of 2 years, depression was not related to worse HbA1c, SBP, or LDL. The presence of (1) abnormal performance on a test of executive function and depression (n=57) or (2) abnormal performance on a test of verbal recall and depression (n=43) was also not associated with clinically significant worse change in diabetes control.

Depression, with or without low performance in tests of executive function and memory, may not affect clinically significant measures of diabetes control in the elderly.