Towards a gendered diabetes care approach: a secondary analysis of conventional and complementary medicine diabetes health service use of older women with diabetes and a mental health co-morbidity.

Authors

Tracey Oorschot, Jon Adams, David Sibbritt

Published in

BMC complementary medicine and therapies. Volume 26. Issue 1. Jul 28, 2026. Epub Jul 28, 2026.

Abstract

Women with diabetes have different self-management and self-care characteristics and risk profiles to men. A difference of note is that women with diabetes are at greater risk of anxiety or depression. However, limited research has explored if the presence of a mental health co-morbidity is an influencing factor upon health service use pertinent to diabetes self-care.
A secondary analysis of a chronic disease self-care sub-study stemming from the 45 and Up Study was conducted. Cross-sectional analyses were completed to examine the conventional and complementary medicine health service use patterns of women with diabetes and anxiety or depression, or anxiety and depression (n = 451, n = 439, n = 439, respectively).
Of the women who completed the diabetes specific survey and mental health questions, 155 (35.3%) were classified as clinically depressed, 94 (20.8%) reported anxiety and 58 (13.2%) were classified as having both depression and anxiety. A regression analysis revealed women with co-morbid depression were the most likely to consult with their general practitioner 7 or more times annually (OR: 3.07,95% CI 1.35-6.89), those with co-morbid anxiety most likely to engage in yoga or meditation practice (OR: 4.37, 95% CI 2.05-9.32), and those with co-morbid depression and anxiety most likely to consult with a counsellor or psychologist (OR: 7.41, 95% CI 3.22-17.07).
Our findings reveal the need for a diverse range of health care professionals, both within conventional and complementary medicine, to engender coordinated and targeted diabetes care with a view to supporting the specific needs of women with diabetes.

PMID:
42919215
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 24 Oct 2026.

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