School of Medicine and Health Sciences Poster Presentations

Depressive Symptoms and Patient-Provider Communication in Adolescents and Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes

Document Type

Poster

Keywords

depression; communication; diabetes; adolescents

Publication Date

4-2017

Abstract

Depressive symptoms are prevalent in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and may impact communication between AYA patients and health care providers (HCPs). This study evaluates associations among depressive symptoms and objective indicators of patient-provider communication, including patient-centered care.

Seventy-six AYAs (53.9% female; M age=17.77±1.22 yrs; 50% non-Hispanic white) with T1D were recruited to participate in a longitudinal study of health communication. Participants completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Clinic visits were audio-recorded and communication quality was coded using the Roter Interactional Analysis System (RIAS), a system for evaluating medical interactions; clinic visit duration, mean number of utterances by AYAs and HCPs, and an overall index of patient-centered communication were used for current analyses. Hemoglobin A1c (M = 8.89%±2.25) values were extracted from medical records.

On the CES-D, 30.3% of participants reported clinically elevated symptoms of depression (M = 13.16±9.75; range 0-44). CES-D scores were positively associated with HbA1c (p<.05) and objective rating of patient-centered communication (p<.01). Clinic visit duration, amount of provider to patient talk, and total patient talk were not significantly associated with depressive symptoms.

The prevalence of depressive symptoms and association with glycemic control supports the importance of routine depression screening in this population. AYA-HCP communication may also be impacted by mood, as HCPs engaged in more patient-centered communication for patients endorsing greater depressive symptoms. This association implies that providers might have responded to patient mood by encouraging more active patient participation during the clinic visit. Future studies should examine this relationship over time.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Open Access

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Comments

Poster presented at GW Annual Research Days 2017.

This poster received an award for the best poster in the Clinical Research category.

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Depressive Symptoms and Patient-Provider Communication in Adolescents and Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes

Depressive symptoms are prevalent in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and may impact communication between AYA patients and health care providers (HCPs). This study evaluates associations among depressive symptoms and objective indicators of patient-provider communication, including patient-centered care.

Seventy-six AYAs (53.9% female; M age=17.77±1.22 yrs; 50% non-Hispanic white) with T1D were recruited to participate in a longitudinal study of health communication. Participants completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Clinic visits were audio-recorded and communication quality was coded using the Roter Interactional Analysis System (RIAS), a system for evaluating medical interactions; clinic visit duration, mean number of utterances by AYAs and HCPs, and an overall index of patient-centered communication were used for current analyses. Hemoglobin A1c (M = 8.89%±2.25) values were extracted from medical records.

On the CES-D, 30.3% of participants reported clinically elevated symptoms of depression (M = 13.16±9.75; range 0-44). CES-D scores were positively associated with HbA1c (p<.05) and objective rating of patient-centered communication (p<.01). Clinic visit duration, amount of provider to patient talk, and total patient talk were not significantly associated with depressive symptoms.

The prevalence of depressive symptoms and association with glycemic control supports the importance of routine depression screening in this population. AYA-HCP communication may also be impacted by mood, as HCPs engaged in more patient-centered communication for patients endorsing greater depressive symptoms. This association implies that providers might have responded to patient mood by encouraging more active patient participation during the clinic visit. Future studies should examine this relationship over time.