Older diabetics helped by mental health treatment

A research team from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have reported that older adults that have diabetes and depression are half as likely to die during a period in which they get depression care as the same period when they do not.
The study is the first that examines diabetes and mortality when related to the elderly and depression intervention. Hilary Bogner, an assistant professor at the Department of Family Practice and Community Medicine at Pen, reportedly commented: “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.”
The study was conducted in New York City, at 20 primary care practices in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York itself. Almost 600 patients were identified and randomly assigned to depression care. Those that received care were found to be far less likely to die. The research is published in Diabetes Care .