The relationship between psychiatric symptoms and glycemic status in a Chinese population

Abstract

With the exception of depression and anxiety, there has been no study designed to evaluate the association between other psychiatric symptoms and Type 2 diabetes. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between different psychiatric symptoms and diabetes as well as pre-diabetes (Pre-DM) in a Chinese population. Totally, 9561 participants without a history of diabetes, depression, psychosis, use of hypnotics, and abnormal thyroid function were enrolled. Psychiatric symptoms were measured by Brief Symptoms Rating Scale questionnaire, which consists of three global indices [General Severity Index (GSI), Total Number of Positive Symptoms (PST), and Positive Symptom Distress Index (PSDI)] and ten subscales, including somatization, obsession, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobia, paranoid ideation, psychoticism and additional symptoms. Different glycemic statuses included normal glucose tolerance (NGT), Pre-DM, and newly-diagnosed diabetes (NDD) group. GSI, somatization, hostility, phobia, psychoticism, and additional symptoms were the factors positively associated with NDD as well as pre-DM in an age-adjusted model. After adjustments for age, gender, body mass index, educational level, hypertension, plasma triglycerides and creatinine, smoking, alcohol use, regular exercise, marital status, and family history of diabetes mellitus, the following psychiatric symptoms were independently related to both NDD and pre-DM: GSI, PST, somatization, obsession, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobia, psychoticism, and additional symptoms. In addition to depression and anxiety, global indices of psychiatric symptoms and other subscales, including somatization, obsession, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, phobia, psychoticism and additional symptoms, may have an impact on both diabetes and Pre-DM.