Vitamin D level in relation to depression symptoms during adolescence

Reem Al-Sabah; Abdullah Al-Taiar; Lemia Shaban; Ahmed N Albatineh; Reem Sharaf Alddin; Praveen K Durgampudi

doi:10.1186/s13034-022-00489-4

Vitamin D level in relation to depression symptoms during adolescence

Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2022 Jun 27;16(1):53. doi: 10.1186/s13034-022-00489-4.

Authors

Reem Al-Sabah¹, Abdullah Al-Taiar², Lemia Shaban³, Ahmed N Albatineh¹, Reem Sharaf Alddin⁴, Praveen K Durgampudi⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Community Medicine and Behavioral Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Kuwait, Kuwait.
² School of Community & Environmental Health, College of Health Sciences, Old Dominion University, 4608 Hampton Blvd, 3136 Health Sciences Building, Norfolk, VA, 23508, USA. aaltaiar@odu.edu.
³ Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Life Sciences, Kuwait University, Kuwait, Kuwait.
⁴ CONRAD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, United States.
⁵ School of Community & Environmental Health, College of Health Sciences, Old Dominion University, 4608 Hampton Blvd, 3136 Health Sciences Building, Norfolk, VA, 23508, USA.

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to investigate the association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and depression symptoms among adolescents in Kuwait, a country with a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency.

Methods: A school based cross-sectional study was conducted on randomly selected 704 adolescents in middle schools. Data on depression symptoms were collected using the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). Data on covariates were collected from the parents by self-administered questionnaire and from adolescents by face-to-face interview. Blood samples were analyzed in an accredited laboratory; and 25(OH)D was measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Results: Of 704 adolescents, 94 (13.35%; 95%CI:10.35-17.06%) had depression symptom (a score of 19 or more on the CDI). There was no significant difference in the median CDI score between different vitamin D status (p = 0.366). There was also no significant correlation between serum 25(OH)D concentration and CDI score (Spearman's rank correlation = 0.01; p = 0.825).There was no significant association between 25(OH)D and depression symptoms whether 25(OH)D was fitted as a continuous variable (crude odds ratio (OR) 0 .99 [95%CI: 0.98, 1.01], p = 0.458 and adjusted OR 1.01 [95%CI: 0.99, 1.02], p = 0.233), categorical variable as per acceptable cut-of points (crude analysis p = 0.376 and adjusted analysis p = 0.736), or categorical variable as quartiles (crude analysis p = 0.760 and adjusted analysis p = 0.549).

Conclusion: Vitamin D status does not seem to be associated with depression symptoms among adolescents in our setting. Nevertheless, it is important to have sufficient vitamin D levels during adolescence for several other health benefits.

Keywords: Adolescents; Depression; Kuwait; Vitamin D.