What is it about?

Diabetes affects more than 34 million adults in the U.S. For this study, data from the 2014-2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) from all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories, the world’s largest telephone survey, to identify study participants was utilized. For this analysis, respondents who reported being employed at the time of the survey and as having diabetes — a total of 84,659 people were included. This study illustrates that for working-age people, having diabetes and another coexisting chronic condition puts them at an even greater risk for depression

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Why is it important?

A strength of this study is the large population-based sample that allowed to explore the relationship between diabetes and depression among workers by age group and other characteristics such as age and gender including demographics and physical health conditions. Having a better understanding of which groups may be at greatest risk can help inform preventive measures such as tailored educational messages and health promotion resources in the workplace.

Perspectives

We found that the prevalence of depression among workers with diabetes was 30% higher than those without diabetes. And female workers with diabetes in all age groups were more likely to self-report depression than their male counterparts. Addressing depression and diabetes at work can have positive impact on the physical and mental health as well as productivity of all employees. Moreover, increasing opportunities for employees to receive depression care interventions can help reduce the burden of these conditions on at the workplace and overall costs

Harpriya Kaur
CDC

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Depression and Diabetes in Workers Across the Life Span: Addressing the Health of America's Workforce—Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2014–2018, Diabetes Spectrum, August 2021, American Diabetes Association,
DOI: 10.2337/ds21-0022.
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