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Depression and type 2 diabetes mellitus are both associated with an increased risk for dementia, according to a new study.
The risk is even greater among individuals diagnosed with both depression and diabetes compared with people who have neither condition, researchers found.
Dimitry Davydow of the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, and coauthors examined the risk for dementia among individuals with depression, type 2 diabetes or both compared with individuals with neither condition in a group of more than 2.4 million Danish citizens, who were 50 and older and free from dementia from 2007 through 2013.
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Overall, 19.4% of individuals in the group had a diagnosis of depression (477,133 individuals), 9.1% had type 2 diabetes (223,174 individuals), and 3.9% (95,691 individuals) had diagnoses of both diabetes and depression.
The average age at initial diagnosis of type 2 diabetes was 63.1 years old and the average age at initial diagnosis of depression was 58.5 years old.
The researchers found that during the study period, 2.4% of individuals (59,663 people) developed dementia and the average age at diagnosis was nearly 81 years.
Of those individuals who developed dementia, 15,729 people (26.4%) had depression alone and 6,466 (10.8%) had type 2 diabetes alone, while 4,022 (6.7%) had both conditions.
The results of the study indicated that type 2 diabetes alone was associated with a 20% greater risk for dementia and depression alone was associated with an 83% greater risk, while having both depression and type 2 diabetes was associated with a 117% greater risk.
The risk for dementia appeared to be even greater among those study participants younger than 65.
The study was published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
