Ahmed Al Hariri
Background: Vitamin D deficiency is a rapidly growing endemic condition in Saudi Arabia, and it is known to be an underlying cause of various mental and physical illnesses. It is, therefore, important to assess the role of vitamin D in the regulation of mental health and the treatment of mental disorders. The primary objective of this study is to identify if regular medical check-ups clients with vitamin D deficiency (their vitamin D level is 10ng/ml or less) have different levels of depression and anxiety than clients with vitamin D insufficiency (their vitamin D level is between 10.1ng/ml to 30ng/ml). The non-probability sample of this quantitative study comprises 246 participants with previously diagnosed vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency. The participants were clients from the Kingdom Hospital and Al-Borg Medical Laboratories in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and a structured questionnaire (developed by the current researcher) was administered to them.
Results: The study findings showed that although there are no significant differences between clients with vitamin D deficiency and clients with vitamin D insufficiency with regards to depression and anxiety levels, the means for depression and anxiety levels were higher in clients with vitamin D deficiency.
Conclusion: Clients suffering from low vitamin D levels, either a deficiency or insufficiency, may suffer from depression and anxiety; and as much as their vitamin D level is low as much as they are exposed to suffer from high levels of depression and anxiety.