Written by Harold Oster, MD. Results suggest that in adults, as vitamin D levels increase, the risk of depression decreases, and the association is greater in pregnant and postpartum women.
The lifetime risk of depression is as high as 15%, affecting women about twice as often as men1. Peripartum depression is common and is associated with significant adverse outcomes in the mother and infant2. The causes of depression are unclear, but nutritional factors, including levels of vitamin D, may play a role3,4.
Victoria Rose Barri Benters Hollinshead et al. investigated the association between vitamin D levels and the occurrence of depression in adults 20-44 years old and whether sex, pregnancy, or breastfeeding status affected the results. The authors analyzed data gathered between 2007 and 2018 by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a population-based cross-sectional study conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention5. Participants were divided into four groups: men, pregnant women, postpartum women (defined as having delivered in the preceding twelve months), and women who were neither pregnant nor postpartum (non-pp). The postpartum group was further divided into those who were breastfeeding and those who were not. Whether women were pregnant, postpartum, or breastfeeding was determined by interviews. The presence of depression was ascertained with the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)1. The authors divided the participants into three categories based on the scores: no depression (0-4), mild depression (5-9), and moderate to severe depression (10-27). Vitamin D levels were measured, and participants completed questionnaires assessing demographics, health history, lifestyle, and other possible confounding variables.
The authors noted the following:
- Based on inclusion criteria, data from 11,337 participants was used in the study.
- Non-pp women were the most likely to have moderate to severe depression. (11.4%)
- Postpartum women who were breastfeeding were the least likely to have moderate to severe depression. (2.2%)
- Men had an intermediate risk of having moderate to severe depression. (5.8%)
- In all groups, after adjustment for covariables, vitamin D levels showed an inverse association with the occurrence of depression. As vitamin D levels increased, the probability of “no depression” increased, and the probability of mild or moderate to severe depression decreased.
- The inverse association of vitamin D levels with depression was largest in pregnant women, followed by postpartum women, then non-pp women and men.
- In postpartum women, those who breastfed showed a slightly greater inverse association between vitamin D levels and depression than those who did not breastfeed.
Results suggest that in adults between twenty and forty-four, as vitamin D levels increase, the risk of depression decreases. This inverse association is greater in pregnant and postpartum women than in men and in women who are not pregnant or postpartum. The study’s limitations include its cross-sectional design and possible residual confounding.
Source: Hollinshead, Victoria Rose Barri Benters, Julia L. Piaskowski, and Yimin Chen. “Low Vitamin D Concentration Is Associated with Increased Depression Risk in Adults 20–44 Years Old, an NHANES 2007–2018 Data Analysis with a Focus on Perinatal and Breastfeeding Status.” Nutrients 16, no. 12 (2024): 1876.
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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Posted August 6, 2024.
Harold Oster, MD graduated from medical school in Miami, Florida in 1992 and moved to Minnesota in 2004. After more than 25 years of practicing Internal Medicine, he recently retired. Dr. Oster is especially interested in nutrition, weight management, and disease prevention. Visit his website at haroldoster.com.
References:
- Malhi GS, Mann JJ. Depression. Lancet. Nov 24 2018;392(10161):2299-2312. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(18)31948-2
- Ko JY, Rockhill KM, Tong VT, Morrow B, Farr SL. Trends in Postpartum Depressive Symptoms – 27 States, 2004, 2008, and 2012. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. Feb 17 2017;66(6):153-158. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6606a1
- Spedding S. Vitamin D and depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing studies with and without biological flaws. Nutrients. Apr 11 2014;6(4):1501-18. doi:10.3390/nu6041501
- Aghajafari F, Letourneau N, Mahinpey N, Cosic N, Giesbrecht G. Vitamin D Deficiency and Antenatal and Postpartum Depression: A Systematic Review. Nutrients. Apr 12 2018;10(4)doi:10.3390/nu10040478
- Dwyer J, Picciano MF, Raiten DJ. Collection of food and dietary supplement intake data: What We Eat in America-NHANES. J Nutr. Feb 2003;133(2):590s-600s. doi:10.1093/jn/133.2.590S
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