Feature Story

December 6, 2007

Mental Health Treatment Extends Lives of Older Patients with Diabetes and Depression

From EurekAlert! - Breaking News:

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine report that older adults with diabetes and depression are half as likely to die over a 5-year period when they receive depression care management than depressed patients with diabetes who do not receive depression care management.

The first known study to examine the relationship between diabetes and mortality in a depression intervention trial appears in the December issue of Diabetes Care.

"Depression is common among people with diabetes and contributes to issues with medication and diet adherence, and also leads to an overall reduced quality of life," says lead author, Hillary R. Bogner, MD, MSCE, Assistant Professor, Department of Family Practice and Community Medicine at Penn.

The practices were randomly assigned to usual care, or a depression care management intervention, which involved a depression care manager who worked with the primary care provider to recommend treatment for depression and assist patients with treatment adherence.

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