A new study, ‘Mental health status and diabetes among Whites and Native Americans: is race an effect modifier,’ is now available (see also Mental Health). “Depressive symptoms are common among patients with diabetes and may have a significant impact on self-management and health outcomes. The prevalence of both depression and diabetes varies by race,” investigators in the United States report.
“We examined whether race is also an effect modifier in the association between mental health rated ‘not good’ and diabetes using the national Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data from 2002 to 2005. We found that the prevalence of diabetes among Native American respondents was almost double that among Whites. Respondents with at least two weeks of mental health rated ‘not good’ are significantly higher among diabetic patients than among non-diabetic patients. Native Americans (NAs) with at least two weeks of mental health rated ‘not good’ were more likely to have diabetes. This association is stronger in NAs than in Whites,” wrote A.E. Sahmoun and colleagues, University of North Dakota.
The researchers concluded: “Future research should focus on a better understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this plausible association between poor mental health and diabetes.”
Sahmoun and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved (Mental health status and diabetes among Whites and Native Americans: is race an effect modifier? Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 2007;18(3):599-608).
For additional information, contact A.E. Sahmoun, Medical Education Center, Dept. of Internal Medicine at University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 1919 Elm Street North, Fargo, ND 58102 USA..
The publisher of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved can be contacted at: Johns Hopkins University Press, Journals Publishing Division, 2715 North Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-4363, USA.
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
