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Minerals, trace elements, Vit. D and bone health

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and self-reported mental health status in adult Danes

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 70, pages 78–84 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

Vitamin D receptors and vitamin D-metabolising enzymes are present in the brain and in the central nervous system at sites responsible for the regulation of emotions and behaviour. This raises the hypothesis that low vitamin D is related to poor mental health. Our aim was to examine the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and the self-reported symptoms and diagnosis of depression and anxiety in the adult general population.

Subjects/Methods:

Serum 25(OH)D was measured in three Danish population-based studies, including 5308 adults aged 18–64 years. After 5 years, 2004 participants were re-examined. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were assessed by the Symptom Check List (SCL)-90-R, and self-reported doctor-diagnosed depression and anxiety was recorded by using a questionnaire.

Results:

Serum 25(OH)D was not associated with SCL average scores for depression and anxiety when analysed by quantile median regression adjusted for sex, age and other potential confounders. The β-coefficient and 95% confidence interval (CI) per 10 nmol/l serum 25(OH)D were 0.00 (−0.00 to 0.01) and P=0.23 for depression and −0.00 (−0.01 to 0.00) and P=0.19 for anxiety. Furthermore, no evidence of an association was observed with longitudinal changes (combining depression and anxiety score: β (95% CI)=0.00 (−0.00 to 0.00), P=0.90), with scores >90 percentiles (odds ratio (OR) (95% CI)=1.02 (0.98–1.07), P=0.32), or with self-reported history (OR (95% CI)=1.02 (0.97–1.07), P=0.47) or incidence (OR (95% CI)=1.02 (0.92–1.12), P=0.77) of doctor-diagnosed depression and/or anxiety.

Conclusions:

Our results suggest that low serum 25(OH)D is not associated with self-reported symptoms/diagnosis of depression and anxiety.

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Acknowledgements

The present study was supported by grants from the Health Insurance Foundation (Grant No. 2010 B 131) and the Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation (Grant No. 2101-06-0065).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Centre for Prevention and Health, The Capital Region of Denmark, Glostrup Hospital, Glostrup, Denmark

    L L N Husemoen, J F Ebstrup, T Skaaby, B H Thuesen, T Jørgensen & A Linneberg

  2. Center for Healthy Aging, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    E L Mortensen

  3. Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    E L Mortensen, T Jørgensen & A Linneberg

  4. Department of Medicine M, Research Centre for Ageing and Osteoporosis, Copenhagen University Hospital Glostrup, Copenhagen, Denmark

    P Schwarz

  5. Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    P Schwarz

  6. Faculty of Medicine, University of Aalborg, Aalborg, Denmark

    T Jørgensen

  7. Department of Clinical Experimental Research, Rigshospitalet, Glostrup, Denmark

    A Linneberg

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Correspondence to L L N Husemoen.

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Husemoen, L., Ebstrup, J., Mortensen, E. et al. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and self-reported mental health status in adult Danes. Eur J Clin Nutr 70, 78–84 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2015.129

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