Association between vitamin D deficiency and depression in Nepalese population
Psychiatry Research. Vol 267, Sept 2018, Pages 266–271, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.06.018
Ojaswee Sherchanda, , , Nidesh Sapkotab, Rajendra K Chaudharia, Seraj A Khana, Jouslin K Baranwala, Tripti Pokhrela, Binod K L Dasa, Madhab Lamsala
Highlights
- Question: Is vitamin D deficiency associated with depression in Nepalese population?
- Findings: vitamin D deficient individuals had 3.5 times higher odds of developing clinically significant depression in comparison to those with sufficient vitamin D after adjusting for confounding variables.
- Meaning: Vitamin D deficient people are associated with increased likelihood of having clinically significant depression in Nepalese population.
- Vitamin D Supplementation May Help Ease Depression - May 2018
- Vitamin D depression RCT canceled: too many were taking Vitamin D supplements, etc. Feb 2018
- Anti-depression medication about as good as big increase in vitamin D – meta-analysis of flawless data April 2014
- Happy Nurses Project gave Omega-3 for 3 months – reduced depression, insomnia, anxiety, etc for a year – RCT July 2018
- Depression reduced by Vitamin D – literature review Feb 2018
Other supplements also decrease depression
- Unipolar depression treated by Omega-3, Zinc, and probably Vitamin D – meta-analysis Oct 2017
- Depression is associated with low Magnesium – meta-analysis April 2015
- Depression greatly reduced by taking 250 mg of Magnesium Chloride daily for 6 weeks– RCT June 2017
- Depression – is it reduced by Vitamin D and or Omega-3 – RCT 2019
- Omega-3 and Vitamin D each treat many mental health problems - April 2018
At least in Nepal the infants get enough Vitamin D
Recent studies link vitamin D deficiency with depression; however evidences from the Nepalese population are scarce. The current study explored the association between vitamin D deficiency and depression among 300 adults of 18 years and above age residing in eastern Nepal. Validated Nepali version of the Beck Depression Inventory scale (BDI-Ia) was used to determine depressive symptoms and a BDI cutoff score of ≥20 was considered as clinically significant depression. Sociodemographic data were collected using semi-structured questionnaire. Blood samples were collected to measure serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) and classify vitamin D status (deficient, insufficient and sufficient). We used Chi-square test to identify the association of sociodemographic variables and vitamin D status with clinically significant depression.
We found a significant association of gender, geographical location of residence, marital status, religion and vitamin D status with clinically significant depression. Binary logistic regression model was used to examine the likelihood of clinically significant depression among vitamin D deficient individuals.
Vitamin D deficiency was significantly associated with increased odds of clinically significant depression even after adjusting for confounding variables.
This finding suggests Vitamin D deficient people have increased odds of having clinically significant depression.