Quality Standards for Diabetes Care Toolkit

American Diabetes Association (ADA) position statement type 1 diabetes (Chiang et al 2014) recommends: Special attention should be paid to diabetes-related distress, fear of hypoglycaemia (and hyperglycaemia), eating disorders, insulin omission, subclinical depression, and clinical depression. These factors are significantly associated with poor diabetes self-management, a lower quality of life, and higher rates of diabetes complications.

Screening – which tool to use?

Holt et al (2012) undertook a systematic review to determine if there was evidence for a particular screening tool for depression in people with diabetes. They concluded that although a range of depression screening tools have been used in research, there remains few data on their reliability and validity. Information on the cultural applicability of these instruments is even scantier. Further research is required in order to determine the suitability of screening tools for use in clinical practice and to address the increasing problem of co-morbid diabetes and depression. The abstract for the article can be found at: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21824180.