Meta-analysis of studies on depression prevalence among diabetes mellitus patients in Africa

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion or insulin action. It can be caused by the consumption of carbohydrate meals or medication side effects. Depression as a comorbid condition in an individual with diabetes is accountable for increased disability, mortality, and significant health problem in patients. As a continent, Africa does not have an overall estimation of depression prevalence among diabetes mellitus patients at a regional level. Consequently, this study's purpose was to use the meta-analysis method to summarize estimates of extant studies that have reported depression prevalence among patients with diabetes mellitus in Africa. The literature search method was executed to classify studies with reported depression prevalence with evidently designed inclusion and exclusion criteria. In total, 20 studies from sundry screened articles were appropriate for ultimate inclusion in the meta-analysis. Since substantial heterogeneity was expected, a random-effects meta-analysis was carried out using the number of cases with a total sample size to estimate the prevalence of diabetes mellitus at a regional level. The residual amount of heterogeneity was found to be high according to the statistics of τ 2 ¼ 0.06; I 2 ¼ 99.10%, chi-square ¼ 2184.85, degree of freedom ¼ 19 and P ¼< 0.001. The pooled depression prevalence was 40% within a 95% confidence interval of 29%-51%. The meta-regression analysis result showed that none of the included moderators contributed to the heterogeneity of studies. The result of effect size estimates against its standard error showed publication bias with a P-value of 0.001. The meta-analysis findings of this study have indicated that depression prevalence in Africa is still high. Reporting on numerous risk factors like socio-demographic characteristics were not possible in this study because of a lack of completeness in the included articles. Consequently, screening diabetes patients for comorbid depression with its associated risk factors is highly recommended.

Prevalence, Pattern and Genetic Diversity of Rotaviruses among Children under 5 Years of Age with Acute Gastroenteritis in South Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Data were extracted into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, and analysis was carried out using R statistical software. Because substantial heterogeneity was expected, randomeffects estimates were employed, since the samples were from general populations [42][43][44]. Heterogeneity among reported prevalence was assessed by computing p-values of Higgins's I 2 statistics; I 2 was considered significant at p-value < 0.05.…”

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“…An initial selection of questions was elaborated to proceed with a fundamental statistic analysis over the collected studies. The following questions were considered as in other studies that also focussed on the statistical analysis of literature reviews, yet in other areas of research 69,70 . Additionally, the entire set of questions was considered to encompass extremely relevant information for future researchers. Which methods are the most used when analysing vertical integration?…”

“…The following questions were considered as in other studies that also focussed on the statistical analysis of literature reviews, yet in other areas of research. 69,70 Additionally, the entire set of questions was considered to encompass extremely relevant information for future researchers.…”

Diabetes and depression in Africa: Causality, relationship and clinical implications

“…The fusion of depression and diabetes in low- and middle-income countries may enhance the emergence of diabetic complications and finally rise in morbidity and mortality rate [ 6 ]. As a continent, Africa has no record of a sum total estimation of depression prevalence among diabetes mellitus patients at a regional [ 7 ].…”

“…As a continent, Africa has no record of a sum total estimation of depression prevalence among diabetes mellitus patients at a regional [ 7 ]. However, results presented from a systematic review [ 6 ] involving four regions in Africa estimated the prevalence rate of depression among patients with diabetes in Africa to be 40% across African regions. Compared to a global estimate the findings reported more prevalence of depression in diabetic patients in Africa in contrast to lower cases in Europe (24%), Australia (29%) and Asia (32%) [ 6 ].…”