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.
- 1School of Public Health, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123 Broadway, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia.
- 2School of Public Health, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123 Broadway, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia. [email protected].
Abstract
Background
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.Materials and methods
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).Results
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).Conclusion
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.
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BibTeX
@article{oorschot2026towards,
title = {{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.}},
author = {Tracey Oorschot and Jon Adams and David Sibbritt},
journal = {BMC complementary medicine and therapies},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s12906-026-05413-3},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42919215},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - 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.
AU - Tracey Oorschot
AU - Jon Adams
AU - David Sibbritt
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/28
JO - BMC complementary medicine and therapies
DO - 10.1186/s12906-026-05413-3
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42919215
AB - Background 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.Materials and methods 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).Results 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).Conclusion 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.
SN - 2662-7671
ER -