Diabetes and Disease Activity Predict Depression in Lupus

These factors combine with sociodemographic factors to predict new-onset depression in SLE

TUESDAY, April 12 (HealthDay News) -- Diabetes mellitus and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)-related disease activity appear to increase the likelihood of developing depression in SLE, according to a study published in the April issue of Arthritis Care & Research.

Laura J. Julian, Ph.D., from the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues analyzed the role of cardiovascular and SLE-specific disease-related factors as predictors of longitudinal development of depression in the prospective Lupus Outcomes Study (LOS). A standardized telephone interview was conducted annually to collect data from 663 adult participants between 2004 and 2008. The development of depressive symptom severity over a 12-month period was measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D score of 23 or more). Predictors included sociodemographic characteristics, traditional cardiovascular risk factors (hypertension, diabetes, smoking, obesity, family history, and history of cardiovascular events), and SLE-specific risk factors (renal involvement, glucocorticoid use, disease duration, and disease activity).

The investigators found that the annual incidence of depression was 12 percent. Predictors of new-onset depression included the presence of diabetes mellitus (odds ratio [OR], 1.8) and baseline SLE disease activity (OR, 1.2). Other predictors of new-onset depression included younger age (OR, 2.3 for 20- to 39-year-olds compared to OR, 1.8 for ages 40 to 59 years), Hispanic/Latino ethnicity (OR, 1.8), college education (OR, 1.8), and baseline CES-D score (OR, 1.1 per point).

"These results suggest that, in addition to known sociodemographic factors, the presence of diabetes mellitus and SLE disease activity may play a role in the development of depression in SLE," the authors write.

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