A1c, Fasting Glucose and Future Risk of Elevated Depressive Symptoms

The cross-sectional association between impaired glucose/diabetes and depression is inconsistent. The study examined the longitudinal associations between diabetes, indicators of glucose metabolism and depressive symptoms over 2 years of follow-up. 

Participants were 4338 men and women from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a prospective study of community-dwelling older adults [aged 62.9 (s.d.=9.0) years, 45.2% men]. Depressive symptoms were assessed at baseline and after 2 years of follow-up using the eight-item Centre of Epidemiological Studies - Depression (CES-D) scale. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels, fasting glucose and other biological and behavioral risk factors were also assessed at baseline.  

The results showed that, approximately 11.5% of the sample were categorized with elevated depressive symptoms at follow-up (a score greater than or equal to 4 on the CES-D). There was an association between HbA1c and depressive symptoms at follow-up [per unit increase, odds ratio (OR) 1.17, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03-1.33] after adjustment for age and baseline CES-D. Cross-sectionally, the probability of depressive symptoms increased with increasing HbA1c levels until the value of 8.0% after which there was a plateau [p(curve)=0.03]. Compared with those with normal fasting glucose, participants with diabetes (confirmed through self-report or elevated fasting blood glucose) at baseline had an elevated risk of depressive symptoms at follow-up (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.01-2.30) after adjusting for depressive symptoms at baseline, behavioral and socio-demographic variables, adiposity and inflammation.  

From the results it was concluded that the data suggest that poor glucose metabolism and diabetes are risk factors for future depression in older adults. There was no evidence of a U-shaped association.