<strong>Objective:</strong> To evaluate changes in the
prevalence of depressive symptoms, loneliness, and insomnia among older adults with
type 2 diabetes from 2016 to 2020, and to assess risk factors for these
conditions including demographics, multimorbidity, body mass index, treatment
group, and pre-COVID-19 measure scores.
<p><strong>Research Design and Methods:</strong> This was a prospective, observational
study of participants from the Look AHEAD cohort study. Data were from two
assessments before COVID-19 (Visit 1 (V1): April 2016-June 2018 and Visit 2
(V2): February 2018-February 2020), and one assessment during COVID-19 (Visit 3
(V3): July-December 2020). Surveys were administered to assess depressive
symptoms, loneliness, and insomnia. </p>
<p><strong>Results:</strong> The study included 2829 adults (63.2% female, 60.6%
white, mean [SD] age 75.6 [6.0] years). The prevalence of mild or greater depressive
symptoms did not change significantly between the two pre-pandemic visits
(p=0.88) but increased significantly from pre- to during COVID-19 (19.3% at V2
to 30.4% at V3 (p<0.001)). Higher odds of mild or greater depressive
symptoms at V3 were associated with being female (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=1.4;
95% CI, 1.1-1.7), identifying as non-Hispanic White (OR=1.4; 95% CI, 1.1-1.7), having
obesity (OR=1.3; 95% CI, 1.0-1.5), and reporting mild or greater depressive
symptoms at Visit 1 (OR=4.0; 95% CI, 2.9-5.4), V2 (OR=4.4; 95% CI, 3.2-5.9), or
both visits (OR=13.4; 95% CI, 9.7-18.4). The prevalence of loneliness increased
from 12.3% at V1 to 22.1% at V3 (p<0.001), while the prevalence of insomnia
remained stable across visits at 31.5-33.3%. </p>
<p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> The prevalence of mild or greater depressive
symptoms in older adults with diabetes was more than 1.6 times higher during
COVID-19 than before the pandemic. </p>
One-Year Changes in Symptoms of Depression and Weight in Overweight/Obese Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes in the Look AHEAD Study