Database analysis of depression and anxiety in a community sample—response to a micronutrient intervention

Type of content
Journal Article
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
English
Date
2018
Authors
Kimball SM
Mirhosseini N
Rucklidge J
Abstract

Background: Depression and anxiety are common mental health concerns worldwide. Broad-spectrum multi-vitamin/mineral approaches have been found to alleviate a number of psychiatric symptoms. We investigated the effects of a nutrient intervention program, which includes optimizing vitamin D levels, on depression and anxiety outcomes from community-based program. Methods: We evaluated self-reported health measures of depression and anxiety collected as part of a community-based program focused on optimizing overall health through nutritional supplementation, education and lifestyle advice. Results: Data were collected from 16,020 participants, with measures including European Quality of Life Five Dimensions (EQ-5D) and Targeted Symptoms List (TSL) providing self-reported depression and anxiety. More than 56% of participants were identified as having elevated levels of depression and anxiety at baseline as reported on the EQ-5D. After one year in the program, 49.2% (n = 7878) of participants who reported any level of depression or anxiety at baseline reported improvement at follow-up. Of those who reported severe/extreme depression at baseline (n = 829), 97.2% reported improvement after one year. Regression analyses revealed a significant association of improvement in depression and anxiety with higher vitamin D status (>100 nmol/L) and more strenuous physical activity. Conclusion: Overall, people from the general population who suffer from mood and anxiety problems may benefit from improved nutritional status achieved with nutritional supplements.

Description
Citation
Keywords
Humans, Micronutrients, Combined Modality Therapy, Exercise, Prevalence, Case-Control Studies, Follow-Up Studies, Program Evaluation, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Depression, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Depressive Disorder, Major, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Quality of Life, Dietary Supplements, Adult, Aged, Middle Aged, Health Promotion, Canada, Female, Male, Young Adult, Electronic Health Records, Healthy Lifestyle
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Field of Research::17 - Psychology and Cognitive Sciences::1701 - Psychology::170106 - Health, Clinical and Counselling Psychology
Field of Research::11 - Medical and Health Sciences::1111 - Nutrition and Dietetics
Rights
© 2018 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 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).