Prevalence and Predictors of Depression among Adult Male Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Attending General Outpatient Clinic in a Tertiary Hospital in Northern Nigeria

Background: Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, no insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. The majority of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes (T2DM). According to the International Diabetes Federation “diabetes is one of the largest global health emergencies of the 21st century”. The World Health Organization (WHO) ranked depression as the fourth most common disease in 2019. The connection between depression and type 2 diabetes was recognized as early as in the 17th century. Today, depression and type 2 diabetes have become a great global challenge.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of depression among adult males with type 2 DM attending General Outpatient Clinic of Federal Medical Center, Keffi Nigeria.

Methodology: The study design was hospital- based cross-sectional descriptive study on adult male diabetic patients on follow up at the GOPC of FMC Keffi.

Systematic random sampling method was used to select participants into the study. A total of 209 participants were recruited into this study, after obtaining informed consent from them. Data collected from the study participants included socio-demographic data, depression was assessed using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS, Biochemical Measurement (fasting blood sugar) was taken using the glucometer kits- (ACCU-CHEK Active).

Results: The age range of the study population is between 40 and 75 years with majority within 50-59 years (35.5%). A total of 101 (48.3%) of the study participants were identified by the Hamilton’s depression rating scale to be depressed, while 108 (51.7%) had no depression. Among the participants, the risk of developing depression was significantly(p=0.001) found with being divorced or unmarried and unemployment, poor glycaemic control, ingestion of alcohol, cigarette smoking, increase duration of diabetes and presence of erectile dysfunction.

Conclusion: In this study, the prevalence of depression was 48.3%. Depression is a highly prevalent health problem that is both under-diagnosed and under treated and affects the quality of life of a large number of men with type 2 diabetes mellitus. There is need to screen all diabetics for depression at any clinic visit in view of the observed high prevalence.