Low Serum Vitamin B12 is Significantly Associated with Depression: A Cross Sectional Observational Study

Vitamin B12 plays a vital role in the prevention of psychological disorders. Studies have reported the positive impact of vitamin B12 supplementation on cognitive functions. However, epidemiological research on the prevalence of depression in the vitamin B12-deficient adult population is still insufficient. Thus, the present study investigates the prevalence of depression among the vitamin B12-deficient 400 adult participants, whose serum vitamin B12 status was below 200pg/mL, aged between 18 years to 60 years. The sociodemographic profile, anthropometric assessment and presence or absences of clinical symptoms were recorded via self-administered questionnaire. Participants were divided in Vitamin B12 insufficient and deficient group. Depression was screened by Beck- Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) scale, with 21-item self-administered survey. The study reported, 16% participants were from deficient group (serum vitamin B 12 below 150 pg/ml) with mean age 43.2±10.5 years. Depressive symptoms were found inversely associated with serum vitamin B12 levels. A significant association (at p<0.05) was found with age (chi sq=44.09, d.f.= 2, and p=0.001), gender (chi sq=7.91, d.f.= 1, and p=0.0048), body mass index (chi sq=12.97, d.f.= 2, and p=0.022), metformin usage (chi sq=8.31, d.f.= 2, and p=0.015), religion (chi sq=7.54, d.f.= 2, and p=0.022), income group (chi sq=5.71, d.f.= 2, and p=0.04), food preferences (chi sq=18.95, d.f.= 2, and p=0.00007) and clinical symptoms. The odds (CI) of depression among vitamin B12 deficient participants were found 5.88 (2.81-12.32), making it an independent predictor of depression. After adjusting with confounding variables, the association remained the same. The study revealed that the adult population with reduced vitamin B12 levels has higher probabilities of developing depression, and the chances increased with age. Thus, early detection and low cost supplementation should be implemented to combat vitamin B12 deficiency and its complications.