Incidence of latent depression associated with diabetic retinopathy and utility of SRQ-D in diagnosis

Purpose: To investigate the incidence of latent depression in diabetic patients and to evaluate the relationship between the depression and various diabetes variables. Methods: Two questionnaire tools, the self-rating questionnaire for depression (SRQ-D) and the miniinternational neuropsychiatric interview (MINI), were used to screen for latent depression in 529 diabetic outpatients without a history of depression. Their mean age was 62.2 years and the mean HbAic value was 7.3%. The incidence of diabetic retinopathy was 39%, of neuropathy was 31%, and of nephropathy was 33%. Results: Using the SRQ-D, the incidence of "depression" was 5.7% and that of "borderline depression" was 10.4%. Using the MINI, the incidence of "major depression" was 5.3% and that of "minor depression" was 7.0%. Whereas a finding of "depression" on the SRQ-D was not related to either sex or HbA1c value, the incidence of "depression" was significantly higher in patients with diabetic retinopathy and neuropathy. A finding of "major depression" on the MINI showed similar relationships. Conclusions: The results in our study indicate that the incidence of latent depression was closely related to the presence of diabetic retinopathy and neuropathy, and the SRQ-D may be useful for diagnosis of latent depression in diabetic patients.