Effect of depression on progression to end-stage renal disease or pre-end-stage renal disease death in advanced diabetic nephropathy: A prospective cohort study of the Diabetes Study from the Center of Tokyo Women's Medical University.

AIMS/INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to determine the effect of depression on the progression to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and pre-ESRD death in patients with advanced diabetic nephropathy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This single-center prospective cohort study enrolled Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes and advanced diabetic nephropathy. The total Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score was used to evaluate depression at baseline and classified patients into: no, mild and severe depression groups. The outcomes were ESRD, defined as initiation of renal replacement therapy, and pre-ESRD death. The relationship between the severity of depression and these outcomes was analyzed using a competing risks model, defining each outcome as the competing risk of the other outcome. RESULTS: Of the 486 patients with a mean estimated glomerular filtration rate of 37.1 ± 21.1 mL/min/1.73 m2 , 345 were men. During the median follow up of 4.4 years, 164 patients progressed to ESRD and 50 died. The cumulative incidence function of ESRD was significantly higher in the severe depression group (Gray's test, P = 0.003). The ESRD risk increased by 12.4% and 45.1% in patients with mild and severe depression, respectively, compared with those without depression, although these differences did not reach statistical significance in the multivariate subdistribution hazard model (P = 0.450 and 0.161, respectively). The cumulative incidence of death was similar for the study groups. CONCLUSION: Depression potentially has a weak impact on progression to ESRD, however, the presence of comorbidities might have the possibility to reduce the effect of depression on the renal outcome in patients with advanced diabetic nephropathy.

The relationship between depressive symptoms and diabetic complications in elderly patients with diabetes: Analysis using the Diabetes Study from the Center of Tokyo Women's Medical University (DIACET).

AIMS: To investigate the association between likelihood or severity of depression and symptoms associated with diabetic complications in elderly Japanese patients with diabetes. METHODS: This single-center cross-sectional study included 4283 patients with diabetes, 65 years and older (mean age was 73 ± 6 years, 38.7% were women, 3.9% had type 1 diabetes). Participants completed a self-administered questionnaire including items on subjective symptoms associated with diabetic microangiopathy, frequency of clinical visits due to vascular diseases (heart diseases, stroke, or gangrene), hospitalization, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a simple but reliable measure of depression. The associations between severity of depression and diabetic complications were examined using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: According to the PHQ-9 scores, patients were classified into the following 3 categories: 0-4 points (n=2975); 5-9 points (n=842); and 10 or more points (n=466). Higher PHQ-9 scores were associated with increased odds ratios for retinopathy, symptoms related to peripheral polyneuropathy and autonomic neuropathy, and end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis after adjustment for age, gender, smoking status, and HbA1c (all p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Significant relationships were found between depression severity and chronic diabetic complications among elderly Japanese patients with diabetes.