Exercise, psychotherapy combination effective for diabetics with Depression

In Appalachia, diabetes hits hard. Depression does, too. Together, they form a difficult pair to beat.

To help patients fight back, a team of Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-COM) and Ohio University researchers have put together a new approach to the double-edged problem. Program ACTIVE (Appalachians Coming Together to Increase Vital Exercise) is a two-year intervention feasibility study to test the effectiveness of a combination of exercise and talk therapy as a treatment for depression in patients with type 2 diabetes.

"Diabetes is a difficult disease," said Mary de Groot, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology and lead author of a paper produced by the research team. "Add depression on top of that, and it makes it that much tougher."

Their paper is published in the June issue of Diabetes Care, the journal of the American Diabetes Association.

The researchers point out that previously published studies have shown that depressive symptoms in diabetics are "associated with worsened blood glucose levels, diabetes complications, increased functional disability, worsened adherence to diabetes regimen, higher ambulatory care costs, and increased mortality."

The study looked at type 2 diabetes patients attending family medicine and endocrinology appointments in rural Appalachian counties of Southeastern Ohio and West Virginia. Of those 201 patients, 31 percent reported co-morbid diabetes and depression through completion of the Beck Depression Inventory, a self-report questionnaire assessment.

That rate is similar to the national co-morbidity rate, somewhat surprisingly low considering the relatively high rate of poverty where the patients live. For instance, Meigs County, Ohio, has a poverty rate of 19.8 percent, compared to 10.6 percent for the state of Ohio.

"What is compelling is the length of episodes of depression," said de Groot, the principal investigator. A follow-up study of the patients involved showed that 88 percent of those who had initially identified themselves as suffering from depression also did so 18 months later. Depression severity was associated with younger age, unemployment and a greater number of prescribed medications. These findings are consistent with those observed in urban samples.

According to Schwartz, in research conducted by the ARHI Diabetes Center, Appalachia has a diabetes prevalence rate of 11.3 percent - well above the 7.6 percent national rate.

De Groot and her colleagues encourage doctors to screen their diabetic patients for depression. People with diabetes are twice as likely to have an experience with depression as those without diabetes.

For patients, de Groot said, it is vital to share feelings and mood symptoms with their doctors. It's important, too, to know that talk therapy has been shown to be effective in treating depression in type 2 diabetes, she said, and that antidepressant medications have been effective in treating depression in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Program ACTIVE, which is funded by the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), combines 12 weeks of exercise with 10 sessions of talk therapy for patients with type 2 diabetes and depression for two weeks or longer. The aim is to assess improvements made during the program in depression, diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors.

de Groot M, Doyle T, Hockman E, Wheeler C, Pinkerman B, et al.
Depression Among Type 2 Diabetes Rural Appalachian Clinic Attendees
Diabetes Care. 2007 Jun;30:1602-1604   [Extract]