Heterogeneous depressive symptom trajectories among women with type 2 diabetes: findings from the Women's Interagency HIV Study.

BACKGROUND

Depression affects 33% of women with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and leads to increased risks of premature mortality. Fluctuation and variation of depressive presentations can hinder clinical identification.

PURPOSE: We aimed to identify and examine subgroups characterized by distinct depressive symptom trajectories among women with T2D.

METHODS

This retrospective analysis leveraged the Women's Interagency HIV Study data to identify depressive symptom trajectories based on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scores (2014-2019) among women with and without HIV. Descriptive statistics characterized sample demographics (eg, age, race, income), clinical indices (eg, hemoglobin A1C [HbA1c], BMI, HIV status), and psychosocial experiences (eg, discrimination, social support, anxiety, pain). We used growth mixture modeling to identify groups defined by distinct depressive symptom trajectories and parametric and non-parametric tests to examine demographic, clinical, and psychosocial differences across subgroups.

RESULTS

Among the 630 women included, the mean age was 50.4 (SD = 8.3) years, 72.4% identified as Black and non-Hispanic, and 68.2% were living with HIV. Five subgroups were identified and distinguished by severity and symptom type. Participants with lower incomes (P = .01), lower employment (P < .0001), lower social support (P = .0001), and experiences of discrimination (P < .0001) showed greater membership in threshold, moderate, and severe depressive subgroups. Subgroup membership was not associated with metabolic indices (BMI, HbA1c) or HIV status. Anxiety, pain, and loneliness (all P = .0001) were worse in subgroups with higher depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Among women with T2D, depressive symptom trajectories differ across clinical and social contexts. This study advances precision by delineating subgroups within a broad clinical category.