Diabetes Complications in Patients With Mental Health

Potential factors linked to severity of diabetes complications in patients with mental health have been discovered by scientists.

Patients with already diagnosed mental health and substance use disorders had lower overall, but more quickly progressing, complication severity scores through seven years after a diabetes diagnosis than those patients without, even after accounting for other mitigating factors such as coexisting illnesses.

‘More than 90% of patients with mental health or substance use disorders had primary care visits before diabetes was diagnosed compared with 58 percent of patients without those disorders. ’

Study authors speculate patients with diagnosed mental health or substance use disorders likely were already being treated for other conditions, such as hypertension, when diabetes was diagnosed. Limitations of the study include missing data.

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Authors: Eric Schmidt, Ph.D., Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, and Stanford University, Stanford, California, and coauthors

(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.112060)

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Source: Eurekalert