RESEARCH ARTICLE Symptoms of Eating Disorders and Depression in Emerging Adults with Early- Onset, Long-Duration Type 1 Diabetes and Their Association with Metabolic Control

Background This study analyzed the prevalence of and association between symptoms of eating disor-ders and depression in female and male emerging adults with early-onset, long-duration type 1 diabetes and investigated how these symptoms are associated with metabolic control. Methods In a nationwide population-based survey, 211 type 1 diabetes patients aged 18-21 years completed standardized questionnaires, including the SCOFF questionnaire for eating dis-order symptoms and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for symptoms of depression and severity of depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 score). Multiple linear and logistic regression models were used to analyze the association between eating disorder and depressive symptoms and their associations with HbA1c. Results A total of 30.2 % of the women and 9.5 % of the men were screening positive for eating disor-ders. The mean PHQ-9 score (standard deviation) was 5.3 (4.4) among women and 3.9 (3.6) among men. Screening positive for an eating disorder was associated with more severe depressive symptoms among women (βwomen 3.8, p<0.001). However, neither eat-ing disorder symptoms nor severity of depressive symptoms were associated with HbA1c among women, while HbA1c increased with the severity of depressive symptoms among men (βmen 0.14, p=0.006)