Düsseldorf, 02.12.2024

Diabetes Subtypes Differ in Terms of Well-being, Depression Symptoms and Their Health-related Quality of Life

The motto of this year's World Diabetes Day on November 14 is “Diabetes and Well-being.” Researchers at the German Diabetes Center (DDZ) have conducted studies on the well-being and quality of life of people with diabetes and published their findings in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

Although the clinical course of the metabolic disease diabetes mellitus is generally complex and variable, the vast majority of people with diabetes are still classified as having either type 2 or type 1 diabetes. Due to the wide variety of underlying biological mechanisms, it is still not possible to predict exactly if and when people with diabetes will develop complications. The basis for the development of tailor-made strategies for early detection, prevention and therapy in the sense of precision diabetology could be the classification into five different diabetes subtypes based on clinical and laboratory variables.

“With its research, the DDZ is making a significant contribution to the detailed characterization of the risk of complications in the diabetes subtypes. The aim of precision diabetology is to develop tailor-made therapy concepts for people with diabetes and thus, on the one hand, to positively influence the course of the disease and, on the other hand, to enable those affected to have the best possible quality of life,” emphasizes Prof. Dr. Michael Roden, Scientific Managing Director and Spokesman of the Board of the DDZ and Director of the Clinic for Endocrinology and Diabetology at the University Hospital Düsseldorf (UKD).

Data from the German Diabetes Study (GDS)

In this study, the DDZ researchers analyzed data from 1,391 participants in the German Diabetes Study (GDS). The GDS is a prospective, multicenter observational study initiated and led by the DDZ, in which they investigate the natural course of diabetes in adults newly diagnosed with the disease (< 12 months). In addition to a variety of examinations, the GDS participants also complete validated questionnaires during the visits, including on well-being, health-related quality of life, symptoms of depression and diabetes-related distress (diabetes distress).

The aim of the researchers was to investigate the relationship between the diabetes subtypes and the health status perceived by the people affected (patient-reported outcomes).

 


© DZD


Recognizable differences between the diabetes subtypes

The evaluation showed that, depending on their diabetes subtype, the persons differed in terms of well-being, health-related quality of life, diabetes distress and depressive symptoms as early as in the first year after diagnosis. At study inclusion, people with the severe insulin-resistant diabetes (SIRD) subtype had higher depression symptoms than people with mild age-related diabetes (MARD) and a lower physical quality of life compared to the other four diabetes subtypes. People with severe autoimmune diabetes (SAID) reported more severe depressive symptoms and lower mental quality of life than people with MARD, as well as higher diabetes-related distress than most other subtypes. However, compared to people with MARD or mild overweight diabetes (MOD), people with SAID had a higher physical quality of life.

In addition, the analysis suggests that people with SIRD were more likely to have clinically relevant depression and a lower level of well-being after five years than people with MARD.

“Our results suggest that belonging to a diabetes subtype is related to the risk of future depressive symptoms. The observation that people with SIRD are more likely to have depression after five years is remarkable, as previous studies have already found an increased risk of diabetes-related complications for this subtype,” explains Prof. Dr. Dr. Andrea Icks, Director of the Institute for Health Services Research and Health Economics at the DDZ.

 

Original publication:
Sommer J, Borgmann SO, Gontscharuk V et al. Depression symptoms, wellbeing, health-related quality of life, and diabetes-related distress in novel subtypes of recent-onset diabetes in Germany: a 5-year observational follow-up study. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/s2213-8587(24)00234-1


About World Diabetes Day:
World Diabetes Day on November 14 is the second official United Nations (UN) day dedicated to a disease, alongside World AIDS Day. It was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2006 in view of the dramatic increase in the number of people with diabetes worldwide. While other days such as World Heart Day or World Kidney Day were created by the respective specialist organizations or days such as “Healthy Eating Day” or “Back Health Day” are more like days invented by marketing departments, World Diabetes Day serves to focus on a chronic disease that cannot be cured.


The German Diabetes Center (DDZ) serves as the German reference center for diabetes. Its objective is to contribute to the improvement of prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes mellitus. At the same time, the research center aims at improving the epidemiological data situation in Germany. The DDZ coordinates the multicenter German Diabetes Study and is a point of contact for all players in the health sector. In addition, it prepares scientific information on diabetes mellitus and makes it available to the public. The DDZ is part of the Leibniz Association (Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, WGL) and is a partner of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.). www.ddz.de/en 

The German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) is a national association that brings together experts in the field of diabetes research and combines basic research, translational research, epidemiology and clinical applications. The aim is to develop novel strategies for personalized prevention and treatment of diabetes. Members are Helmholtz Munich – German Research Center for Environmental Health, the German Diabetes Center in Düsseldorf, the German Institute of Human Nutrition in Potsdam-Rehbrücke, the Paul Langerhans Institute Dresden of Helmholtz Munich at the University Medical Center Carl Gustav Carus of the TU Dresden and the Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of Helmholtz Munich at the Eberhard-Karls-University of Tuebingen together with associated partners at the Universities in Heidelberg, Cologne, Leipzig, Lübeck and Munich. www.dzd-ev.de/en  

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