Counseling and depression among diabetic patients

OBJECTIVE: To determine the level of depression in diabetic patients and investigate the effect of a counseling program on the level of depression.

METHODS: A pre-post experimental study was conducted at the outpatient medical clinics of the Health Insurance Hospital affiliated to the Ministry of Health, Mansoura, Egypt. The study was carried out between June 2011 and September 2011. One hundred and twenty type II diabetic patients were recruited in this study. We used 2 tools for data collection: a) A structured interview questionnaire including socio-demographic and disease related data. b) The Zung self-rating depression scale. We classified the subjects into 2 equal groups of 60 patients each (group A - control and group B - experimental). Both groups were interviewed after 3 months to assess the level of depression.

RESULTS: On initial assessment, depression was found in approximately 57.5% of the control group, and severe depression in 32.5%. On second assessment, the depression rate in the control group increased to 67.5%, while the severe depression rate decreased to 25%. In the experimental group, at initial assessment, it was noticed that the percentage of subjects with no depressions increase to be 39.7% instead of 27%, also, the level of mild and severe depression decrease to be 56.1% post assessment instead of 58.4% and 14.6%.

CONCLUSION: Counseling, as a nursing intervention, is helpful in reducing the level of depression among diabetic patients.