• Damin Si, Michelle Dowden, Catherine Kennedy, Rhonda Cox, Lynette O'Donoghue, Helen Liddle, Ru Kwedza, Christine Connors, Sandra Thompson, Hugh Burke, Alex Brown, Tarun Weeramanthri, Gill Shierhout, and Ross Bailie.
• School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane. damin.si@menzies
• Aust Fam Physician. 2011 May 1; 40 (5): 331-3.

AimThis article reports on documented levels of depression among people with diabetes attending indigenous primary care centres.MethodBetween 2005 and 2009, clinical audits of diabetes care were conducted in 62 indigenous community health centres from four Australian states and territories.ResultsThe overall prevalence of documented depression among people with diabetes was 8.8%. Fourteen (23%) of the 62 health centres had no record of either diagnosed depression or prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors among people with diabetes. For the remaining 48 centres, 3.3-36.7% of people with diabetes had documented depression.DiscussionThe results of this study are inconsistent with the evidence showing high prevalence of mental distress among indigenous people. A more thorough investigation into the capacity, methods and barriers involved in diagnosing and managing depression in indigenous primary care is needed.

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