Purchase of antidepressant agents by patients with type 1 diabetes is associated with increased mortality rates in women but not in men

Individuals with diabetes have increased mortality rates compared with the general population. In patients with type 2 diabetes depression further contributes to the increased mortality. Depression and mortality rates in patients with type 1 diabetes are an understudied phenomenon. We therefore studied their association in a prospective setting.

We followed 4,174 participants (51% men, age 39 ± 12 years, diabetes duration 22 ± 12 years [mean ± SD]) in the Finnish Diabetic Nephropathy Study (FinnDiane) for an average of 9 years. Depression was defined as purchase of antidepressant agents at baseline and during follow-up. These data were obtained from the Finnish Drug Prescription Register. Data on all-cause mortality and cause of death were obtained from the Finnish Cause of Death Register.

At baseline, 313 (7.5%) patients had purchased antidepressant agents. During follow-up 758 (18.2%) additional cases were observed. Purchasers of antidepressant agents at baseline had the highest 10-year cumulative mortality rate (22.5% [95% CI 18.1, 26.6]), followed by those with such purchases during follow-up (18.0% [15.4, 20.5]) and those with no purchases (10.1% [9.0, 11.2], p < 0.001). In the adjusted Cox regression models (age, diabetes duration, diastolic blood pressure, smoking, HbA_1c and nephropathy), the purchase of antidepressant agents at baseline was associated with mortality in women, but not in men. Cardiovascular diseases were the major cause of death in non-purchasers of antidepressant agents. In antidepressant purchasers, chronic diabetic complications were the most frequent underlying cause of death.

In a population of patients with type 1 diabetes, purchase of antidepressant agents was associated with increased mortality rates in women, but not in men.