The effect of educational intervention on depression in patients with type 2 diabetes

Diabetes is one of the most common non-communicable diseases in the world and has become a global challenge. The prevalence of depression in this chronic disease leads to a decrease in adherence to treatment and thus a change in the prognosis of diabetes in patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of educational intervention on depression in patients with type 2 diabetes.

The present study was a quasi-experimental study performed on 60 patients (30 in the intervention group and 30 in the control group) with type 2 diabetes mellitus with mild to moderate depression. The Beck scale was used to measure depression score. This questionnaire was completed twice, before and after the six-month educational intervention by the participants. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 18 through paired t-test and independent t-test.

The results showed that before the intervention there was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of depression score but after the educational intervention the depression score in the intervention group compared to the control group showed a significant decrease (p <0.001).

According to the results of the study, educational intervention can reduce the symptoms of mild to moderate depression in type 2 diabetic patients. However, more evidence is needed.