Prevalence of depressive disorders in patients with diabetes mellitus living in the ATO zone and in other regions of Ukraine

Abstract

The aim was to determine the prevalence of depressive disorders in patients with diabetes mellitus living in the area of ATO (anti-terrorist operation) and living in other areas of Ukraine outside the area of warfare. Material and methods. We examined 253 patients with diabetes mellitus 1 and 2 types of medium and severe forms of the disease from different regions of Ukraine, including 30 patients from the ATO area who were on inpatient treatment in a diabetic ward. Assessment of psychoemotional state was performed by interviewing patients on the Beck and PHQ‑9 scales. Results. According to a survey of patients
living outside the ATO zone, depressive disorders were reported in 150 of 230 patients (67.3%) on the Beck scale and 136 patients (61.0%) on the PHQ‑9 scale. At the same time, among the 30 surveyed from the ATO zone, depressive symptoms were observed in 16 of them (53.3%) on the Beck scale and in 19 patients (63.3%) on the PHQ‑9 scale, which did not make a significant difference with the group patients from other regions of Ukraine (p> 0.05). Among 150 patients with depression residing outside the ATO area, Beck’s scale was diagnosed with depression of varying severity: 76 (50.2%) — mild, 33 (22.0%) — moderate, 32 (21.3%) — severe and 9 (6%) patients were severe. On the PHQ‑9 scale, 78 (57.4%) of 150 people found minimal manifestations of depression, 37 (27.2%) —
mild, 12 (8.8%) — severe (moderate) and 9 (6.6%) of patients — severe depression. Among 16 patients from the area of ATO with manifested depression on the Beck scale, depressive symptoms were observed in 8 patients — mild, 2 — moderate, 4 — severe and 2 patients — severe. On the PHQ‑9 scale, most of them had 9 patients, found minimal manifestations of depression, 7 had mild, 1 had severe depression (moderate), and 2 had severe depression. The analysis confirmed the absence of statistical difference in the distribution of patients by severity between patients from the ATO zone and those residing in other regions of Ukraine (p> 0.05). Conclusion. Depressive disorders are quite common among inpatients with diabetes, which are found in 61.0-67.3% of patients.
The negative social factors associated with staying in the ATO zone for 6-18 months did not significantly affect either the frequency or severity of the depressive syndrome, which may indicate an independent character of depressive disorders in diabetes.