Vitamin B 12 Deficiency Among Depressive Patients Presenting in Tertiary Care Hospital of Karachi

Objective: To determine the frequency of deficiency of levels of vitamin B12 among depressed patients presenting in tertiary care hospital. Study Design: Comparative cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Pakistan Naval Ship Shifa Hospital, Karachi Pakistan, from Jun to Dec 2022. Methodology: The clinically diagnosed depressed patients aged 18 to 90 years after ERC approval were included. The inclusion criteria was clinical depressive symptoms, single and multiple episodes, and scoring of more than 10 on the Hamilton depression rating scale (HAM-D). After consent, a blood sample was sent for serum vitamin B12 levels. Levels less than 200 pg/ml were considered as deficient. Result: The mean age for the study population was 46.82±15.64 years. 39(19.5%) of the patients were aged more than 55 years. The majority, 112(56%), were females; 121(60.5%) had no known psychiatric co-morbid; 115(57.5%) had no known medical co-morbid; 128(64%) had vitamin B12 deficiency; 128(64%) were diagnosed one year or more and 111(55.5%) were on oral vitamin B12 supplements. 67(33.5%) had serum vitamin B12 deficiency. 128(64%) were currently depressed; 130(65%) had HAM scores greater than 10. Conclusion: Our study has shown high vitamin B12 deficiency in depressive patients. It was shown to be significantly associated with female gender, age >30 years, co-existing psychiatric illness, disease duration greater than 1 year, Hamilton Rating Score >10, and multiple episodes.