Depressive symptoms and cerebral microvascular disease in adults with Type 1 diabetes mellitus

Aim To assess the prevalence of, and risk factors for, depressive symptoms, comparing a sample of middle‐aged adults with and without juvenile‐onset Type 1 diabetes mellitus, and to determine if depressive symptoms were associated with white matter hyperintensity volume among those with Type 1 diabetes. Methods Depressive symptoms and white matter hyperintensities were compared between adults (age range 30–65 years) with juvenile‐onset Type 1 diabetes (n=130) and adults without Type 1 diabetes (n=133). The association of Type 1 diabetes with depression was computed before and after adjustment for white matter hyperintensities. Among the Type 1 diabetes group, the primary associations of interest were between depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory score ≥10) and white matter hyperintensities (n=71), hyperglycaemia and physical activity. Associations between depressive symptoms and diabetes‐related complications, cognitive impairment, smoking and self‐reported disability were examined. Analyses were controlled for education, sex, age and antidepressant use. Results Depressive symptoms were more prevalent among those with vs those without Type 1 diabetes (28% vs 3%; P