Prevalence and factors associated with comorbid diabetes and depression among patients attending a private hospital in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Objectives: This study sought to elucidate the prevalence and factors associated with depression among patients with type 2 diabetes attending a diabetes clinic in a private hospital located in Nairobi, Kenya.
Methods: A cross-sectional analytic design was used to answer the research question. Data was collected using a closed-ended interviewer-administered questionnaire based on Socio-demographic data, data on patient history, and data on depression symptoms. Frequency distribution was used to calculate the prevalence of depression. Binary logistic regression was used to assess the association between the variables of interest and comorbid depression and diabetes at the bivariate and multivariate levels.
Results: The prevalence of depression among diabetes type 2 patients was 21.94%. Those who used injectable medication had a 2.195 higher odds of being depressed (CI: 1.098-4.389, p=0.026), compared to those that used oral hypoglycaemics. No other factor was significantly associated with depression.
Conclusion: Prevalence of depression is comparable with other studies. Diabetes type 2 treatment and patient guidelines may need to be reviewed in favour of oral over injectable hypoglycaemics, whenever clinically possible.