Relationships between diabetes, vitamin D status, depression, and Hispanic ethnicity: a project FRONTIER study

Vitamin D (VD) status has been linked to the development of diabetes. However, this relationship in the context of comorbid conditions remains understudied. Additionally, ethnic disparities in nutritional status and chronic disease prevalence within rural populations are a vastly underrepresented area of research. In our previous study, we explored VD levels and depression in a rural West Texas aging sample. In the present study, we investigated the associations between diabetes, vitamin D (VD) levels, depression, and Hispanic ethnicity (HE) among a sample of aging, rural West Texans from Project FRONTIER (PF; Facing Rural Obstacles to Health Care Now Through Intervention, Education, and Research).

A cohort of 299 PF participants (mean age 62.6 ± 11.8 years old, 70.9% female, 40.5% HE) was used. We examined relationships between diabetes diagnosis, blood-based diabetes-related biomarkers, VD level, Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) score, and HE status. We developed a "VD-sensitive GDS score" composed of the 9 GDS questions that were significantly correlated with VD level in our previous study. We further created a complementary "VD-insensitive GDS score" composed of the remaining 21 GDS questions. Standard correlation and regression analyses were employed.

VD level was significantly negatively associated with diabetes diagnosis, while VD-sensitive depression score was significantly positively associated with diabetes diagnosis. HE was associated with higher HbA1c levels, higher fasting blood glucose levels, and higher VD-sensitive depression scores.

In this rural West Texas cohort, diabetes was significantly associated with low VD levels and high VD-sensitive depression scores. HE was associated with higher levels of diabetes-related biomarkers and higher VD-sensitive depression scores. These disparities are crucial to consider when examining areas for healthcare improvement in West Texas, particularly among aging populations.