Depression ups complications for adolescent diabetics

• Adolescents with Type I diabetes who who demonstrate depressive symptoms are at higher risks for hospitalizations for disease complicatins, reports a study published in Pediatrics.


• Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center asked 231 diabetic patients, aged 11 through 18 years, to complete the self-report Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). They monitored the participants over the next two years for their glycosylated hemoglobin levels and frequency of hospitalizations for medical complications.


• Eleven percent of the patients were hospitalized at least once. After taking into account other factors, CES-D scres above 12 for boys and above 22 for girls predicted hospitalization.