Spouse's Diabetes Status and Incidence of Depression and Anxiety: An 18-Year Prospective Study

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Jannie Nielsen, Emory University; Solveig A Cunningham, Emory University; Mohammed Ali, Emory University; Shivani Patel, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-06-01
• Publisher: AMER DIABETES ASSOC
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2021 by the American Diabetes Association
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.2337/dc20-2652
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: DIABETES CARE
• Volume: 44
• Issue: 6
• Start Page: 1264
• End Page: 1272
• Grant/Funding Information: J.N. was supported by Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond (Independent Research Fund Denmark) (DFF – 7025-00053B). S.A.C., M.K.A., and S.A.P. are supported by P30 grants from National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (P30-DK-111024 [S.A.C., M.K.A., S.A.P.] and P30-DK-111024-04S2 [S.A.P.]). The collection of data used in this study was partly supported by the National Institutes of Health under grant numbers R01-HD-069609 and R01-AG-040213 and the National Science Foundation under award numbers SES 1157698 and 1623684. The funders had no role in the study design, data analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
• Keywords: SELF-MANAGEMENT; ATTITUDES; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; CROSS-NATIONAL BENCHMARKING; MELLITUS; FAMILY-MEMBERS; NEEDS 2ND; Science & Technology; Endocrinology & Metabolism; SOCIAL SUPPORT; POSITION STATEMENT; PEOPLE; RISK
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the risk of depression and anxiety in people whose spouse did or did not have diabetes. We also examined associations between depression and anxiety and severity of spouse's diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We analyzed prospective self-reported data about diagnosed depression/anxiety and diabetes in cohabiting couples in the national Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) during 1999-2017 (n = 13,500, 128,833 person-years of follow-up, median follow-up 8.1 years). We used Poisson models to estimate incidence and incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of depression/anxiety, according to spouse's diabetes status overall and by severity of diabetes. RESULTS: Age-, sex-, and race-adjusted incidence of depression/anxiety was 8.0/1,000 person-years (95% CI 6.5, 9.6) among those whose spouse had diabetes and 6.5/1,000 person-years (95% CI 6.0, 6.9) among those whose spouse did not have diabetes. Those whose spouse had diabetes had higher risk of depression/anxiety (IRR 1.24 [95% CI 1.01, 1.53]). Those whose spouse had diabetes-related limitations in daily activities (IRR 1.89 [95% CI 1.35, 2.67]) and diabetes combined with other chronic conditions (IRR 2.34 [95% CI 1.78, 3.09]) were more likely to develop depression/anxiety, while those whose spouse had diabetes with no limitations or additional chronic conditions had incidence of depression/anxiety similar to that of subjects whose spouses did not have diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: People living with a spouse with diabetes are at higher risk of developing depression/anxiety than people whose spouse does not have diabetes; this risk is driven by the severity of the spouse's diabetes. Strategies to address the impacts of diabetes on families need to be devised and tested.