People with mental health disorders less likely to receive adequate diabetes care
A systematic review and meta-analysis published in The Lancet Psychiatry shows that people with mental health disorders are less likely to receive adequate diabetes care.
The review analyzed data from more than 5.5 million people with diabetes who were part of 49 studies around the world. The results show that people who were diagnosed with any mental disorder were 20 per cent less likely to receive routine diabetes monitoring — including blood tests and eye, kidney and foot exams — compared to people without a mental disorder. People with a mental health disorder were also less likely to be treated with GLP-1 agonists, which have become an important part of diabetes treatment in recent years.
“We’ve long known that people with mental health disorders are more likely to die of cardiometabolic disorders such as diabetes and heart disease, but we’ve never fully understood why. This study suggests that lower quality of diabetes care may play a role,” said Dr. Marco Solmi.
“We’ve long known that people with mental health disorders are more likely to die of cardiometabolic disorders such as diabetes and heart disease, but we’ve never fully understood why. This study suggests that lower quality of diabetes care may play a role,” said senior author Dr. Marco Solmi, clinician investigator and psychiatrist at The Ottawa Hospital and Director of Research for the University of Ottawa’s Department of Mental Health and Chair in Evidence-based Mental Health. “Now that we know this is a problem, hopefully we can find ways to address it and improve care.”
Diabetes is estimated to affect 11 per cent of adults worldwide and is more common in people with mental health disorders.
This systematic review was conducted through the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Physical And meNtal Health (PAN-Health) Network, which is chaired by Dr. Solmi.
Authors:
Wagner E, Højlund M, Fiedorowicz JG, Nielsen RE, Østergaard SD, Høye A, Heiberg IH, Poddighe L, Delogu M, Holt RIG, Correll CU, Cortese S, Carvalho AF, Boyer L, Dragioti E, Du Rietz E, Firth J, Fusar-Poli P, Hartman CA, Larsson H, De Giorgi R, Lehto K, Lindgren P, Manchia M, Nordentoft M, Skonieczna-Żydecka K, Veroniki AA, Marx W, Campana M, Mortazavi M, Hasan A, Stubbs B, Taipale H, Vancampfort D, Vieta E, Solmi M; ECNP PAN-Health Group
Funding:
National Health and Medical Research Council, Ministry of University and Research, U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Research.
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