Comorbid Depression is Associated With Increased Health Care Use and Expenditures in Individuals With Diabetes

This study ascertained the odds of diagnosed depression in individuals with diabetes and the relation between depression and health care use and expenditures. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: First, we compared data from 825 adults with diabetes with that from 20,688 adults without diabetes using the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). Second, in patients with diabetes, we compared depressed and nondepressed individuals to identify differences in health care use and expenditures. Third, we adjusted use and expenditure estimates for differences in age, sex, race/ethnicity, health insurance, and comorbidity with analysis of covariance. Finally, we used the Consumer Price Index to adjust expenditures for inflation and used SAS and SUDAAN software for statistical analyses.

Individuals with diabetes were twice as likely as a comparable sample from the general U.S. population to have diagnosed depression (odds ratio 1.9, 95% CI 1.5-2.5). Younger adults (