Quality of depression treatment in Black Americans with major depression and comorbid medical illness

Objective

The objective was to evaluate how comorbid type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and hypertension (HT) influence depression treatment and to assess whether these effects operate differently in a nationally representative community-based sample of Black Americans.

Methods

Data came from the National Survey of American Life (N= 3673), and analysis is limited to respondents who met lifetime criteria for major depression (MD) (N= 402). Depression care was defined according to American Psychiatric Association (APA) guidelines and included psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and satisfaction with services. Logistic regression was used to examine the effects of T2DM and HT on quality of depression care.

Results

Only 19.2% of Black Americans with MD alone, 7.8% with comorbid T2DM and 22.3% with comorbid HT reported APA-guideline-concordant psychotherapy or antidepressant treatment. Compared to respondents with MD alone, respondents with MD+T2DM/HT were no more or less likely to receive depression care. Respondents with MD+HT+T2DM were more likely to report any guideline-concordant care (odds ratio=3.32; 95% confidence interval, 1.07–10.31).

Conclusions

Although individuals with MD and comorbid T2DM+HT were more likely to receive depression care, guideline-concordant depression care is low among Black Americans, including those with comorbid medical conditions.