HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bell, R. A. Articles by Quandt, S. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bell, R. A. Articles by Quandt, S. A. Social Bookmarking                What's this?

Prevalence and Correlates of Depressive Symptoms Among Rural Older African Americans, Native Americans, and Whites With Diabetes

¹ Department of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
² Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Ronny A. Bell, PhD, MS, Department of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Blvd., Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1063. E-mail: rbell{at}wfubmc.edu

OBJECTIVE—Depression is associated with morbidity, mortality, and decreased quality of life and is a well-established complication among people with diabetes. Little is known about the prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms among older adults living in rural communities, particularly among ethnic minority groups, who are at increased risk of developing diabetes and complications.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Data were analyzed from the ELDER (Evaluating Long-term Diabetes Self-management Among Elder Rural Adults) diabetes study in which face-to-face interviews were conducted with 696 older (65 years of age) African-American, Native American, and white men and women in two rural counties in central North Carolina.

RESULTS—Using a criterion of 9 on a modified CES-D (Center for Epidemiologic Study of Depression) scale, 15.8% of the sample had depressive symptoms. In bivariate analyses, depressive symptomatology was more common among women and individuals who were unmarried and had less than a high school education, fewer financial resources, more chronic conditions, more prescription medications, and lower physical functioning. In multivariate analyses, sex, education, living arrangement, BMI, number of prescription medications, number of chronic conditions, and physical functioning remained significant.

CONCLUSIONS—These results show that older rural adults with diabetes are at high risk for depressive symptoms, regardless of their ethnic group, and that certain demographic and health characteristics are important factors in this association. These findings add to the limited body of knowledge of comorbid depression in this population. Greater attention should be paid to diagnosing and treating this condition by those who provide care to these populations.

Abbreviations: CES-D, Center for Epidemiologic Study of Depression • PCS, Physical Component Summary

CiteULike    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. M. Trief Depression in Elderly Diabetes Patients Diabetes Spectr, April 1, 2007; 20(2): 71 - 75. [Full Text] [PDF]

				J O'Loughlin, E Dugas, K Maximova, and N Kishchuk Reporting of ethnicity in research on chronic disease: update Postgrad. Med. J., November 1, 2006; 82(973): 737 - 742. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. J. Wexler Low risk of depression in diabetes? Would that it were so. Can. Med. Assoc. J., July 4, 2006; 175(1): 47 - 47. [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. A. Bell, J. M. Stafford, T. A. Arcury, B. M. Snively, S. L. Smith, J. G. Grzywacz, and S. A. Quandt Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use and Diabetes Self-Management Among Rural Older Adults Complementary Health Practice Review, April 1, 2006; 11(2): 95 - 106. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. A. Quandt, J. M. Stafford, R. A. Bell, S. L. Smith, B. M. Snively, and T. A. Arcury Predictors of falls in a multiethnic population of older rural adults with diabetes. J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., April 1, 2006; 61(4): 394 - 398. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. M. Trief, P. C. Morin, R. Izquierdo, J. A. Teresi, J. P. Eimicke, R. Goland, J. Starren, S. Shea, and R. S. Weinstock Depression and Glycemic Control in Elderly Ethnically Diverse Patients With Diabetes: The IDEATel Project Diabetes Care, April 1, 2006; 29(4): 830 - 835. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]