Ethnic Minorities with Diabetes Differ in Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms and Diabetes-Distress

Objective. to determine the association between ethnicity,diabetes-distress,and depressive and anxiety symptoms in adult outpatients with diabetes. research design and methods. diabetes-distress (problem areas in diabetes scale,paid5),depressive and anxiety symptoms (extended kessler-10,ek10),and quality of life (short-form 12,sf12) were assessed in an ethnic diverse diabetes outpatient population of a teaching hospital in amsterdam. descent of one's parents and self-classified ethnicity were obtained to define ethnicity. hba1c,clinical data,and socioeconomic status were derived from the medical charts. based on established cut-offs for paid5- and ek10-scores,emotional distress was dichotomized for the purpose of logistic regression analyses. results. of 1007 consecutive patients approached,575 participated. forty-nine percent were of non-dutch ethnicity and 24.7% had type 1 diabetes. diabetes-distress was reported by 12.5% of the native dutch patients and by 22.0%,34.5%,and 42.6% of the surinamese,turkish,and moroccan patients,respectively. prevalence of depressive symptoms was 9.4% in native dutch patients and 20.4%,34.5%,and 27.3% in the other groups mentioned. diabetes-distress and moroccan origin were significantly associated (or = 3.60,p<.01) as well as depressive symptoms and turkish origin (or = 4.23,p=.04). conclusions. different ethnic minorities with diabetes vary in their vulnerability for emotional distress,warranting clinical attention. future research should elucidate explanatory factors and opportunities for tailored interventions. © 2017 charlotte b. schmidt et al.