Depressed mood, glycaemic control and functional capacity in overweight/obese men with and without type 2 diabetes.

Objective: To determine whether there were differences in depressed mood between overweight/obese men with and without type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and to examine any associations between depressed mood, physical functioning, and glycaemic control in overweight/obese men with and without T2DM.

Methods: Fifty seven overweight/obese men with (n = 19, age = 54.2 ± 7.4 yrs, BMI = 32.3 ± 6.7 kg⋅m-2) and without T2DM (n = 38, age = 51.1 ± 6.8 yrs, BMI = 29.9 ± 4.5kg⋅m-2, p > 0.05 between groups) participated. The men completed measures of depressed mood and health-related quality of life (HRQL) and underwent the following assessments: fasting blood lipids and glucose, HbA1c, anthropometric measurements, VO2peak, muscle strength, and physical function.

Results: Compared to men without T2DM, men with T2DM had higher depressed mood (p = 0.05, η2 = 0.07), as well as lower perceived general health (p < .01, η2 = 0.24) and social functioning (p = .01, η2 = 0.10). Men with T2DM also had lower VO2peak (21.8 ± 5.3 versus 25.8 ± 5.4 ml⋅kg-1⋅min-1, p < .01, η2 = 0.11) and muscle strength (3.3 ± 0.8 versus 3.7 ± 0.7 kg⋅kg-1, p = 0.08, η2 = 0.06), as well as being slower to complete physical performance tasks (27.2 ± 5.2 versus 24.2 ± 2.8 sec, p < 0.01, η2 = 0.13). In those with T2DM, depressed mood was highly correlated with most HRQL subscales. For the combined cohort, depressed mood was correlated with fasting glucose (r = 0.31, p = 0.012) but not the functional measures.

Conclusions: Men with T2DM have higher levels of depressed mood compared to men without T2DM. Glycaemic control, but not functional capacities, is associated with depressed mood in the study cohort.