TORONTO – Low vitamin D levels were linked with more psychotic features in mentally ill adolescents, in a small study.
Studies have linked vitamin D deficiency with seasonal affective disorder, schizophrenia, and depression, Dr. Barbara L. Gracious of Ohio State University, Columbus, said at the meeting. She and her colleagues studied 104 consecutive teens seen for acute or partial hospital stays for psychiatric symptoms over an 18-month period. Patients' average age was 15, 27% were male, and 73% were white. Overall, 72% had low vitamin D levels (25-OHD levels less than 30 ng/mL), and 34% were vitamin D deficient (25-OHD levels less than 20 ng/mL). By comparison, 9% of a cohort of teens from the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Survey) were vitamin D deficient, the researchers noted.
Psychotic features were seen in 40% of the teens with low vitamin D levels and 16% of those with normal levels, a statistically significant difference. Black ethnicity was linked with vitamin D deficiency, but vitamin D–deficient black teens were not significantly more likely than were vitamin D–deficient white teens to exhibit psychotic features.
No studies indicate that vitamin D deficiency is a causative factor in psychosis.
Dr. Gracious is a consultant for Johnson & Johnson. None of her coauthors reported conflicts. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, Ohio State University, and the University of Rochester (N.Y.).