Depression and glycemic intake in the homebound elderly.

BACKGROUND

Depression is associated with an increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes, but the mechanism is unclear. We aimed to study the relationship between depression and glycemic intake in the elderly, and examine whether antidepressant use modified this relationship.

DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: We evaluated 976 homebound elders in a cross-sectional study. Depression was defined by having a Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) score ≥16. Antidepressant use was documented. Glycemic index (GI), Glycemic load (GL), and fasting blood insulin levels were measured.

RESULTS

Depressed elders had slightly higher GI (Mean±SD: 55.8±3.8 vs. 55.1±3.7, P=0.003) and higher insulin levels (Median: 84.0 vs. 74.4pmol/ml, P=0.05) than non-depressed elders. Depressed elders receiving antidepressants, primarily selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), had lower GI (Mean±SD: 55.1±4.7 vs. 56.2±3.4, P=0.002) and GL (Median: 170.3 vs. 6826.3, P=0.03) than those not taking antidepressants. After adjusting for potential confounding variables, GI remained positively associated with depression (β=+0.65, SE=0.28, P=0.02); the logarithm of GL was positively associated with depression (β=+0.33, SE=0.17, P=0.05) and negatively associated with antidepressant use (β=-0.54, SE=0.18, P=0.003).

CONCLUSIONS

Prospective studies are needed to examine whether high glycemic intake is a mediating factor between late life depression and the risk of type 2 diabetes.