Huang CJ, et al. - The prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) was examined among Taiwanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The physicians found a higher prevalence of MDD in the patients with T2DM than in the general population (GP). Among patients with T2DM, the prevalence of MDD was lower than that reported in Western countries in this study.

• Patients with at least one service claim for ambulatory or inpatient care with a principal diagnosis of MDD and at least two service claims for ambulatory care or one service claim for inpatient care with a principal diagnosis of T2DM were enrolled.
• Patients were recruited from Taiwan's National Health Insurance database.

• A total of 715,756 people were enrolled from the general population (GP).
• Among them, 61,589 patients had T2DM but without MDD, and 778 patients had both T2DM and MDD.
• In the patients with T2DM, the prevalence of MDD increased from 0.70% to 1.25%, while it increased from 0.25% to 0.67% in the GP from 2000 to 2010.
• Factors associated with higher prevalence of MDD were the female sex, residing in the southern regions of Taiwan, and having comorbidities of cerebrovascular disease and anxiety disorder as well as higher comorbidity severity (Charlson comorbidity index, 1–2 and >2).