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.
Highlights
Pernicious anaemia is widely recognized to be associated with subacute combined degenera on of the cord but it may be accompanied by abnormali es of the mental state.[1]
The result shows that vitamin B12 deficiency is common in the pa ents with depression
Clinicians should be aware of the risk for vitamin B12 deficiency in depressive pa ents
Summary
Pernicious anaemia is widely recognized to be associated with subacute combined degenera on of the cord but it may be accompanied by abnormali es of the mental state.[1] Vitamin B12 deficiency accompanied by abnormali es of the mental state is widely recognized. The surveys which was conducted among the psychiatric popula ons have detected a large number of pa ents with low serum B12 levels.[1] The deficiency of vitamin B12 can occur from inadequateintake,impairedabsorp on,vitaminB12degrada on, increased requirement, or can be mul factorial.[2,3,4]. The psychiatric manifesta ons due to vitamin B12 may antedate by many years the first hematologic or neurologic symptoms,[9,10,11,12,13] and this deficiency are completely reversible by e ological treatment
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
