• M Vidgren, J K Virtanen, T Tolmunen, T Nurmi, T-P Tuomainen, S Voutilainen, and A Ruusunen.
• Anu Ruusunen, Department of Psychiatry, Kuopio University Hospital, P.O.Box 100, FI-70029 KYS, Kuopio, Finland. E-mail: anu.ruusunen@kuh.fi, Tel:+61412771050, Fax: +358-17-172-966.
• J Nutr Health Aging. 2018 Jan 1; 22 (1): 159-164.

ObjectivesLow concentrations of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] have been postulated to associate with an increased prevalence of depression. As there are a limited number of publications on this issue, we examined the association between serum 25(OH)D and depression in a general middle-aged or older population.DesignA population-based cross-sectional study.Setting And ParticipantsA total of 1602 men and women from the population-based Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD) in Eastern Finland, aged 53-73 y in 1998-2001, were analysed.MeasurementsDepressive symptoms were assessed with the DSM-III depression scale, and those individuals who had scores over 4 (range 0-12) or had reported undergoing current antidepressant therapy, were considered as suffering from depression. Associations were estimated in serum 25(OH)D tertiles using logistic regression.ResultsAmong the participants, 183 subjects (11.4%) were considered to have depression. The mean age of the subjects was 62.6 years (SD 6.4, range 53.4-73.8 years). The mean serum 25(OH)D concentration was 43.8 nmol/L (SD 17.7, range 8.5-112.8 nmol/L), concentrations <50 nmol/L were observed in 65.0% of the subjects, and only 5.0% displayed concentrations ≥75 nmol/L. After multivariable adjustments, the odds ratios for having depression in the tertiles (from highest to the lowest) of serum 25(OH)D were 1, 1.35 (95 % CI: 0.87, 2.09) and 1.64 (95 % CI: 1.03, 2.59), P for trend=0.036.ConclusionThese findings indicate that a lower concentration of serum 25(OH)D is associated with a higher prevalence of depression in an elderly general population.

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