Vitamin D Deficiency and Psychotic Features in Mentally Ill Patients: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objectives: To compile the literature's findings and shed light on how vitamin D deficiency affects psychological traits in individuals with mental illnesses

Methods: A thorough search of pertinent databases was done in order to find studies that satisfied the requirements for inclusion. A thorough search of PubMed, Web of Science, SCOPUS, and Science Direct was conducted to find pertinent literature.

Results: Fifteen studies, including a total of 2196 participants diagnosed with psychiatric illness, and 1115 (50.8%) of them were males, were included in our data. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among patients with mental illnesses ranged from 22% in schizophrenia patients to 76% in AD patients. In AD patients, vitamin D may be useful short- and long-term predictors of cognitive deterioration, motoric cognitive risk, and depression. In bipolar patients, a manic episode may be triggered by a decreased vitamin D level and the worsening of depression. Patients with first-episode schizophrenia should have their plasma vitamin D levels tested, particularly if they have a longer duration of untreated psychosis and more pronounced negative and severe depressive symptoms.

Conclusion: Low vitamin D levels are found in neurological and psychiatric patients, but the significance of these findings is not entirely clear because low vitamin D levels are also frequently found in healthy subjects or because several study flaws severely reduce the significance of the findings. Future studies' primary objective would be to map out the variables affecting supplementing efficacy and identify people who benefit from taking vitamin D analogs. This may contribute to the advancement of vitamin D understanding to practical therapeutic needs.