91 percent of psychiatric hospital admissions had less than 20 ng of vitamin D

Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in adult patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital

BJPsych Bulletin (2018) Page 1 of 4, doi:10.1192/bjb.2017.34

Dipen Patel,1 Manjunath Minajagi, 1Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, Leicester, UK, Dipen Patel (dpatel12@nhs.net)

1. Admissions from study on this page

Primary diagnosis	% admission
Depressive episode	27.9
Bipolar affective disorder	17.3
Schizophrenia	17.3
Personality disorder	13.5
Acute or unspecified psychotic disorder	6.7
Psychoactive substance-related disorders	6.7
Schizoaffective disorder	4.8
Anxiety disorder	2.9
Delusional disorder	1.9
Eating disorder	1

91% had < 20 ng of vitamin D Note: Probably almost all admissions had <30 ng --- * 99 percent of psychiatric population had less than 30 ng of vitamin D – June 2013 * Mental health problems cut in half when have adequate level of vitamin D – Jan 2013 * Omega-3 and Vitamin D each treat many mental health problems - April 2018 has the following summary

Mental Illnesses list of National Alliance of MI	VitaminDWiki 1. of items
ADHD	15
Anxiety Disorders	754
Bipolar Disorder	8
Borderline Personality Disorder	7
Cognitive	200
Depression	154
Dissociative Disorders	-
Early Psychosis and Psychosis	296
Eating Disorders	132
Obsessive-compulsive Disorder	45
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder	30
Schizoaffective Disorder	58
Schizophrenia	>70

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Aims and method Vitamin D deficiency is increasing in the general population, and is linked with physical and mental illness. However, evidence on its prevalence in people with mental illness is limited. This study investigated vitamin D deficiency in 104 adult patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital in the UK.

Results Forty-nine per cent were vitamin D deficient (serum 25(OH)D <30 nmol/L), and a further 42.3% were vitamin D insufficient (<50 nmol/L). On admission, 8.7% of patients were vitamin D sufficient (>50 nmol/L). There were no statistically significant differences in mean serum vitamin D between different subgroups of mental illness.

Clinical implications Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent among individuals with severe mental illness admitted to hospital. Assessment and treatment of vitamin D deficiency should be considered in in-patients to protect musculoskeletal health. Further epidemiological and intervention studies are needed to investigate the role of vitamin D in the pathophysiology of mental disorders.