@article{Ain_Mansoor_Abbas_Zubair_Baqir_Latif_2023, title={Association of Sociodemographic Factors and Vitamin-D Levels with the Severity of Depressive Symptoms}, volume={73}, url={https://pafmj.org/PAFMJ/article/view/8174}, DOI={10.51253/pafmj.v73i1.8174}, abstractNote={<p><strong>Objective:</strong> To study the association of sociodemographic factors and Vitamin D levels with the severity of depressive symptoms in patients with depression.</p> <p><strong>Study Design:</strong> Cross-sectional study.</p> <p><strong>Place and Duration of Study:</strong> Psychiatry Department, Fauji Foundation Hospital, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from May to Nov 2021.</p> <p><strong>Methodology:</strong> This study included all the patients diagnosed with depression per ICD 10 criteria by the consultant psychiatrist. Depression was further categorized in severity using Beck’s Depression Inventory. Vitamin D levels were sent to all the patients diagnosed with depression in the laboratory of our hospital. The cut-off score of less than 50nmol/l was taken as low vitamin levels.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> Out of 103 patients studied, 23(22.3%) had mild, 49(47.6%) had moderate, and 31(30.1%) had severe depression. In severely depressed patients, 19(61.3%) were above 50 years of age, 12(38.7%) had no formal education, and 21(67.7%) had low vitamin D levels. Among mildly depressed patients, 5(21.7%) were above 50 years of age, 2(8.7%) had no formal education,and 17(73.9) had low vitamin D levels. We found that vitamin D levels, age of the patient, and level of education had a statistically significant relationship with the severity of depression, (p-valve less than 0.05).</p> <p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> The level of vitamin D, age, and the level of education had a significant association in the target population with the severity of depressive symptoms.</p>}, number={1}, journal={Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal}, author={Ain, Qurat ul and Mansoor, Sawera and Abbas, Nadeem and Zubair, Usama Bin and Baqir, Muhammad and Latif, Tooba}, year={2023}, month={Feb.}, pages={111–14} }