ASSOCIATION BETWEEN VITAMIN D AND SUICIDAL IDEATION IN KOREAN OLDER WORKERS

Abstract

There are some studies supporting the association between serum vitamin D level and suicidal idea. Although suicide and vitamin D deficiency are highly prevalent in older persons, only a few studies have been performed in older populations. Our study aims to investigate the association between suicidal ideas and serum vitamin D levels in Korean older workers. From 6,906 Korean workers older than 50 years who attended employee health screenings in the Health Screening Center of one hospital from May 2012 to April 2013, we studied 2,717 subjects who had blood tests for vitamin D and answered the bimodal questionnaire about suicidal idea. Chi-square tests and t-tests were performed to determine differences in serum vitamin D levels and other confounding factors between the participants with and without suicidal idea. Logistic regressions calculated the odds ratios (ORs) of suicidal idea according to serum vitamin D status. We adjusted the regression models for potential confounding variables. From 2,717 participants, 128 (4.7%) had reported having suicidal ideas. The proportions of persons with vitamin D sufficiency (≥20 ng/mL), insufficiency (10–19.99 ng/mL) and deficiency (<10 ng/mL) were 41.3%, 52.3% and 6.4% respectively. No significant difference was found in categorical (χ2 test, p=0.215) vitamin D levels between persons with and without suicidal ideas. The OR of suicidal idea did not show significant differences in the subjects with vitamin D insufficiency (OR=0.753, p=0.127) and deficiency (OR=0.606, p=0.251), compared with the group of vitamin D sufficiency. This lack of association between suicidal idea and vitamin D was consistent after adjustment for confounders (vitamin D insufficiency group: AOR=0.748, p=0.118, vitamin D deficiency group: AOR=0.533, p=0.155). The results from this large cross-sectional study showed that serum vitamin D levels were not significantly associated with suicidal ideas in Korean older workers. Further researches are needed to verify the association between vitamin D and suicidal idea in older adults.