First-Degree Family History of Diabetes Is Associated With the Presence of Depressive Symptoms Independent of Lifestyle Risk Factors and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors.

Background: Co-occurrence of depression and diabetes is a prototypical example of mental-physical comorbidity. This study aims to investigate the association between first-degree family history of diabetes (FHD) and the presence of depressive symptoms.

Methods: The present work was one part of the baseline survey from the REACTION study. First-degree FHD was defined as having one or more first-degree relatives with diabetes. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 was administered to detect the presence of depressive symptoms with its score ≥ 5. Logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the association between first-degree FHD and the presence of depressive symptoms.

Results: A total of 4804 participants were enrolled in the present study. Individuals with first-degree FHD were more likely to suffer from depressive symptoms compared with those without first-degree FHD (7.2% versus 4.9%, p = 0.004). The odds ratio (OR) of depressive symptoms was increased by 49.8% with the presence of first-degree FHD after adjustment of gender, age, socioeconomic factors, lifestyle risk factors, and cardiometabolic risk factors (p = 0.007). There were no significant interactions of gender, age, each socioeconomic factor, lifestyle risk factor, and cardiometabolic risk factors on the association between first-degree FHD and the presence of depressive symptoms, respectively (all p > 0.05).

Conclusions: First-degree FHD was associated with depressive symptoms independent of socioeconomic factors, lifestyle risk factors, and cardiometabolic risk factors. Genetic background might mainly contribute to the familial aggregation of depressive symptoms in individuals with first-degree FHD, who should be paid early attention to their mental health.