Prevalence and Correlates of Vitamin B12 Deficiency among Depressive Patients Presenting in the Tertiary Care Hospital of Gandaki Province of Nepal

Abstract

Introduction: The prevalence of vitamin B₁₂ deficiency in depression is not clear and more research is needed.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to find the prevalence of deficiency of vitamin B₁₂ level in the depressed patient. The second objective is to find the prevalence of deficiency of vitamin B₁₂ according to different socio-demographic variables.

Methodology: The patients diagnosed as depressive episodes according to the International Classification of Disease – 10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders were selected from the Psychiatric Out-Patient Department of Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara.  The proforma was used to collect the socio-demographic profile of the patient. The serum sample of the 50 patients was sent for vitamin B₁₂ estimation. Serum concentrations less than 239 pg/ml was considered deficient in this study.

Results: The overall prevalence of vitamin B₁₂ deficiency was 22% in the depressed patients. The mean age of the total patients were 39.2 years with the standard deviation of 13.75 years. Vitamin B₁₂ deficiency was more prevalent in the socio-demographic variables like age above 61 years, Brahmin and Chhetri caste, female gender, unmarried groups, and in the patients living in the urban area as compared to other variables.

Conclusion: The result shows that vitamin B₁₂ deficiency is common in the patients with depression. Clinicians should be aware of the risk for vitamin B₁₂ deficiency in depressive patients.  As this study was done in limited geographical area and sample size being small, further larger studies are needed before generalizing these results.