Citation

Alessi J, Scherer GDLG, Erthal IN, Teixeira JB, de Oliveira GB, Jaeger EH, de Carvalho TR, Schaan BD, Teló GH. Acta Diabetol. 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00592-021-01807-6

PMID

34648086

PMCID

PMC8515779

Abstract

Suicide Prevention Awareness Month may have a special meaning for patients with diabetes in September 2021, almost 2 years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. People living with diabetes are known to be at increased risk for mental health disorders. Compared to the general population, the prevalence of depression is two times higher among people with type 2 diabetes and three times higher among people with type 1 diabetes [1]. In usual situations, living with diabetes significantly increases the risk of suicide. The combined incidence rate of suicide in subjects with diabetes is 2.4/10,000 person-years, and the proportion of long-term deaths attributable to suicide is 7.7% in type 1 diabetes and 1.3% in those with type 2 diabetes [2].

Several studies have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected mental health in people with diabetes. A study carried out by our group showed that 52.9% of patients with type 2 diabetes and 32.7% of those with type 1 diabetes had a positive screening for mental health disorders in the first 3 months of the pandemic in Brazil [3]. Diabetes-related emotional distress was also observed in 29.2% of these patients, eating disorders in 75.8%, and moderate/severe sleeping disorders in 77.5% in this same period [3]. The high prevalence of mental health disorders is an alert to the risk of suicide in these patients, who may find themselves emotionally fragile during the social distancing period...

Language: en