DEPRESSION TREATMENT AND ITS IMPACT UPON THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH DIABETES TYPE 2 - THE CROATIAN STUDY

Objectives: Depression is prevalent in patients with type 2 diabetes and affects quality of life. The prevalence of depression in the sample of Croatian patients with diebetes is 32.2%. The Main aim of the investigation was to evaluate the effect of antidepressant treatment and quality of life and metabolic control in depresses diabetic patients. Design and methods: In the sample we randomized 60 diabetic outpatients with optimally controlled diabetes and with depression. The efficacyof 50 mg sertraline per day treatment was tested by the MADRAS questionnarie in a 24-week period, where the patients controlled themselves. changes in the quality of life as the consequences of treatment of depression were tested by the QLSQ questionnarie for the quality of life follow up. Results: The MADRAS scale result, measuring the changes in the degree of depression, showed substantial improvment of condition throughout the whole treatment. The first eight weeks of treatment presented statistically high significance in examinees in all the groups of cronic somatic diseases. The QLSQ scale results for measuring the quality of life showed marked improvement. Statistically significant changes occured during the first eight weeks of treatment. Two patients withdrew their consent before starting medication and 13 dropped out later in the study. Tretment of depression with sertraline in chronic somatic patients did not induce changes in the HbA1c. Conclusion: that the prevalance of depression in patients with somatic diseases is several times higher than in general population. Tretment of depression with antidepressants from the group of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (sertraline) causes improvment of depressive symptoms and increases the quality of life in diabetic patients. Treatment of depression has no impact upon the values control parameters in these patients