Diabetes Care 31:420-426, 2008 DOI: 10.2337/dc07-1827 © 2008 by the American Diabetes Association
Elevated Depression Symptoms, Antidepressant Medicine Use, and Risk of Developing Diabetes During the Diabetes Prevention Program
1 Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland Address correspondence and reprint requests to Richard R. Rubin, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 946 E. Piney Hill Rd., Monkton, MD 21111. E-mail: rrubin4{at}jhmi.edu
OBJECTIVE—To assess the association between elevated depression symptoms or antidepressant medicine use on entry to the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) and during the study and the risk of developing diabetes during the study. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—DPP participants (n = 3,187) in three treatment arms (intensive lifestyle [ILS], metformin [MET], and placebo [PLB]) completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and reported their use of antidepressant medication at randomization and throughout the study (average duration in study 3.2 years). RESULTS—When other factors associated with the risk of developing diabetes were controlled, elevated BDI scores at baseline or during the study were not associated with diabetes risk in any arm. Baseline antidepressant use was associated with diabetes risk in the PLB (hazard ratio 2.25 [95% CI 1.38–3.66]) and ILS (3.48 [1.93–6.28]) arms. Continuous antidepressant use during the study (compared with no use) was also associated with diabetes risk in the same arms (PLB 2.60 [1.37–4.94]; ILS 3.39 [1.61–7.13]), as was intermittent antidepressant use during the study in the ILS arm (2.07 [1.18–3.62]). Among MET arm participants, antidepressant use was not associated with developing diabetes. CONCLUSIONS—A strong and statistically significant association between antidepressant use and diabetes risk in the PLB and ILS arms was not accounted for by measured confounders or mediators. If future research finds that antidepressant use independently predicts diabetes risk, efforts to minimize the negative effects of antidepressant agents on glycemic control should be pursued.
Abbreviations: BDI, Beck Depression Inventory DPP, Diabetes Prevention Program SSRI, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor TCA, tricyclic antidepressant
The concurrence of depression and diabetes is a serious problem. Among people with diabetes, whose risk of depression is 50–100% greater than the general population (1), depression is associated with higher complication (2) and mortality (3) rates and higher health care costs (4). In 1674, Thomas Willis speculated that diabetes was caused by "long sorrow and other depressions" (5). Findings consistent with Willis' hypothesis, as it applies to type 2 diabetes, were reported recently in a meta-analysis (6), but not all studies included in the meta-analysis reported positive findings. Some studies lacked sufficient statistical power or objective determination of baseline diabetes status. Even studies with positive findings suggested that they applied only to individuals with high levels of depression symptoms or to certain demographic groups. To our knowledge, no studies have considered the effects of elevated depression symptoms on diabetes risk in a large sample of individuals at high risk for developing diabetes because they have impaired glucose regulation or obesity. In addition, very few studies have identified an independent increment in the risk of developing diabetes associated with use of antidepressant medication (7), despite evidence suggesting that such medications may have an impact on glucose tolerance. Tricyclics appear to contribute to weight gain (8) and to increase blood glucose levels in patients with diabetes (9). Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and related agents appear to be associated with less weight gain and perhaps improve insulin sensitivity (10). Data from the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) offer an opportunity to better understand the natural history of elevated depression symptoms, antidepressant medication, and type 2 diabetes in a large racially/ethnically diverse cohort of overweight individuals with elevated fasting glucose and impaired glucose tolerance. The protocol included objective measures of glucose tolerance and potential mediators of the effect of depression symptoms or antidepressant medication on diabetes risk, including weight, weight change, physical activity, and insulin secretion and resistance. We reported earlier that on entry to the DPP 10.3% of participants had symptoms consistent with at least mild depression, and 5.7% reported taking antidepressants, with 0.9% reporting both elevated symptoms and antidepressant use (11). Depression symptoms were higher among women and those having less education; antidepressant use was more common among women, those having more education, and those of white race/ethnicity. During the study, the proportion of participants taking antidepressants increased (to 8.7% at year 3), while the proportion with elevated depression symptoms declined (to 8.4% at year 3), with no significant differences among DPP treatment arms. The current study was designed to determine 1) whether depression symptoms or antidepressant medicine use were associated with progression to type 2 diabetes in the DPP cohort, 2) if these associations varied by DPP treatment arm, and 3) whether these associations were mediated by potential diabetes risk factors.
The DPP involved individuals at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes and was conducted at 27 centers. DPP methods (12,13) and results (14) are described in detail elsewhere. The protocol is available at http://www.bsc.gwu.edu/dpp. At each DPP center, an institutional review board approved the protocol and all participants gave written informed consent.
This analysis is based on the 3,187 of 3,234 enrolled DPP participants who completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) at baseline. Participants were aged
Interventions
Outcomes Diabetes was diagnosed according to the 1997 American Diabetes Association criteria (19) based on an annual oral glucose tolerance test or a semiannual fasting plasma glucose test. A confirmation test was performed, usually within 6 weeks (12). Fasting insulin was measured at annual visits with the oral glucose tolerance test. Detailed measurement methods for glucose and insulin have been previously published (20). We report follow-up through July 2001, after which the primary results were announced and the interventions unmasked. This was 4 months longer than the results reported previously (14), resulting in a total mean follow-up of 3.2 years per participant.
We identified participants with BDI scores
Analysis
Cox proportional hazard models (27) were used to evaluate whether elevated depression symptoms or taking antidepressants were associated with developing diabetes. Having elevated depression symptoms during the DPP was defined as a time-dependent covariate: ever having BDI score The life-table method (29) was used to estimate cumulative diabetes incidence rates at 3 years. These rates and the Greenwood estimate (30) of the SE were used to calculate the number of individuals needed to treat with an antidepressant associated with one case of diabetes and its 95% CI. All analyses were performed using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS Institute, Cary, NC).
At baseline (Table 1), 10.3% of DPP participants had BDI scores indicating at least mild depression ( 11), and 5.7% were taking antidepressants. During the DPP (Table 1), intermittent antidepressant use was reported for 7.2% of total person-years and continuous antidepressant use for 3.2% of total person-years.
At baseline the median BDI score for all three treatment arms was 3 (interquartile range 1–7). At follow-up the median BDI score was 2 (0–5) for the ILS arm and 2 (0–6) for the MET and PLB arms. Elevated BDI scores at baseline and during the study were associated with 1) female sex, 2) race/ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white, 3) less education, and 4) higher BMI, higher fasting insulin levels, and lower levels of physical activity. Elevated BDI scores were not related to age at baseline, but during the DPP older participants (aged 60 years) were less likely to have elevated BDI scores than younger participants.
Antidepressant use on entry to the study and use during the study (Table 1) was associated with female sex, non-Hispanic white race/ethnicity, and (on entry to the study only) more education. In contrast to elevated depression symptoms, antidepressant use was not associated with fasting insulin levels or physical activity level on entry to the DPP. Antidepressant use was associated with BMI on entry to and during the study and with lower levels of physical activity during the study. Antidepressant use at baseline was not related to age, but during the DPP older participants (aged At baseline, 7.4% of women, but only 2.0% (21 of 1,029) of men, took antidepressants. The associations between antidepressant use and age, race/ethnicity, and education were similar for male and female participants, but when analyzed separately these associations were no longer significant among men, possibly due to lack of statistical power. Higher BMI at randomization was significantly associated with antidepressant use at baseline and during the study for women only. When other factors associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes (age, sex, fasting glucose, baseline weight, and weight change during the study) as well as race/ethnicity were controlled, neither elevated BDI scores at baseline nor during the study were significantly associated with diabetes risk in any treatment arm (see lines labeled HRa in Table 2). Leisure activity was not controlled because it was not associated with diabetes risk. (Absolute BDI scores at baseline were significantly associated with diabetes risk in the ILS arm only [P = 0.04].)
Baseline antidepressant use, on the other hand, was strongly associated with diabetes risk for participants in the PLB (hazard ratio 2.25 [95% CI 1.38–3.66]) and ILS (3.48 [1.93–6.28]) arms. Continuous antidepressant use during the study (compared with no use) was also significantly associated with diabetes risk in the same arms (PLB hazard ratio 2.60 [95% CI 1.37–4.94]; ILS 3.39 [1.61–7.13]), as was intermittent antidepressant use during the study in the ILS arm (hazard ratio 2.07 [95% CI 1.18–3.62]). In the PLB arm, the association between intermittent antidepressant uses during the study and diabetes risk approached significance (1.50 [0.97–2.33]). In the MET arm, antidepressant use was not associated with diabetes risk. There was a significant difference between the ILS and MET arms in the association between antidepressant medication and diabetes risk. We further analyzed baseline antidepressant use, comparing only participants who were taking SSRIs, selective serotonin and norepinepherine reuptake inhibitors, or serotonin modulators with those who did not take any antidepressant, since these agents were considered less likely to increase the risk of diabetes. The results for this subgroup, which included 78% of all those taking antidepressants at baseline, were similar to those for all antidepressant users; taking SSRIs or related agents at baseline was significantly associated with the risk of developing diabetes during the DPP in the PLB and ILS arms but not in the MET arm. For this reason, our analysis of the association between antidepressant use during the DPP and diabetes risk included all antidepressants. Our findings suggest that antidepressant use might have increased diabetes risk in the PLB and ILS arms. Under this assumption, we calculated that treating 5.4 PLB participants (95% CI 3.1–24.8) or 5.2 ILS participants (3.2–15.5) with antidepressants would have caused one additional case of diabetes 3 years later (31). We did not perform this calculation for the MET arm, in which it would not be meaningful because there was no association between antidepressant use and diabetes risk.
Elevated depression scores were not associated with diabetes risk Elevated BDI scores ( 11, consistent with mild depression) at baseline and during the study were not associated with diabetes risk during the DPP, despite the fact that elevated depression symptoms were associated with several risk factors for diabetes (BMI, fasting glucose, and lower levels of physical activity). Absolute BDI scores were weakly associated with diabetes risk in the ILS arm only. These findings differ from the conclusions of a meta-analysis that suggested that elevated depressive symptoms are associated with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (6). DPP participants were selected because their risk for developing diabetes was high and rates of developing diabetes in the DPP were 5- to 10-fold higher than those in earlier studies included in the meta-analysis, where subjects did not have impaired glucose regulation at baseline. In addition, the DPP cohort was relatively free of depression. At baseline, only 2.7% of participants had BDI scores indicating even moderate levels of depression (>16). Perhaps in a population at high risk of developing diabetes, generally mild depression symptoms were not potent enough to significantly affect overall diabetes rates. In some studies, increased diabetes risk was seen only in those with more severe depression symptoms (6).
Antidepressant medication was associated with diabetes risk Among psychotropic agents, only second-generation atypical antipsychotic agents have been associated with increased diabetes risk (33). Weight gain, a known risk factor for diabetes, is a recognized side effect of TCA use, and TCA-associated hyperglycemia has been reported in patients who already have diabetes (9). SSRIs or related agents, taken by 78% of DPP participants who took antidepressants, are generally considered to have less effect on weight, with some reports that in people with type 2 diabetes they can actually contribute to lowering weight (34) and improving insulin sensitivity (10). In contrast, SSRI use in the DPP was associated with weight gain during the study. Use of antidepressants was still associated with diabetes risk in the PLB and ILS arms when weight gain was controlled.
Explaining the association between antidepressant use and diabetes risk
Antidepressant use was not associated with diabetes risk in the MET arm
Strengths and limitations The absence of data on specific antidepressants is a limitation, but use of the most commonly used class of agents (SSRIs) was associated with diabetes risk in the PLB and ILS study arms, just as was the use of any antidepressant. Excluding participants from the DPP if they were taking bupropion, or SSRIs, in greater than low doses might limit the generalizabilty of our findings, but antidepressant medication and dosage were not limited during the study, where we still found an association between antidepressant use and diabetes risk. We did not confirm that all patients using antidepressants were taking them for depression. Some SSRIs and related agents are used to treat other disorders (35), but patients with these disorders probably represent a small proportion of those taking SSRIs. TCAs are sometimes prescribed for relief of neuropathic symptoms in patients with diabetes, but DPP participants did not have diabetes at the outset of the study. The antidepressant bupropion is also indicated for smoking cessation, but only 6% of DPP participants reported taking this agent. Our categorical classification of antidepressant use, based on patient self-report, precludes an examination of the association between incremental antidepressant dosage and diabetes risk. We also could not determine whether chronicity of depressive symptoms or the number of past episodes of depression were related to diabetes risk in this cohort or modulated the noted association with antidepressant use.
Implications
Clinical implications.
Public health implications.
Support to the clinical centers and the coordinating center was provided by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) through a cooperative agreement. The Southwestern American Indian Centers were supported directly by the NIDDK, including its Intramural Research Program and the Indian Health Service. The General Clinical Research Center Program, National Center for Research Resources, supported many of the clinical centers. Funding was also provided by the Office of Research on Minority Health, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute on Aging, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Diabetes Association, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Parke-Davis. The Investigators gratefully acknowledge the commitment and dedication of the participants of the DPP.
Published ahead of print at http://care.diabetesjournals.org on 10 December 2007. DOI: 10.2337/dc07-1827.
* Members of the Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group appear in an online appendix at http://dx.doi.org/10.2337/dc07-1827. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact. Received for publication September 17, 2007. Accepted for publication November 30, 2007.
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