NURSING SCIENCE
Depression and Vitamin D in Pregnancy
Amy Rebekah Lamb
Dissertation under the direction of Professor Melanie Lutenbacher
Depression is a serious problem affecting 8-27% of all pregnant women. Current research suggests that pregnant women with low vitamin D levels are at increased risk for depression, however research in this area is limited and conflicting. Studies also indicate that many pregnant women have significantly low vitamin D levels despite taking prenatal vitamins. In light of rising rates of depression, growing concern over vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy, and conflicting evidence regarding the association between depression and vitamin D in pregnancy more work is needed to better understand the associations between vitamin D and depression. This descriptive longitudinal study explored the associations between levels of depressive symptoms and vitamin D in a sample of 125 pregnant women. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Screen (EPDS) in the first and third trimesters. Vitamin D levels were measured using 25OHD serum levels collected in the first trimester and at time of delivery. Low levels of vitamin D were associated with high depressive symptoms over time in this sample (r=-0.30, p=.005). Low vitamin D levels may be an important risk factor for increased depressive symptoms in pregnancy. Further studies examining underlying mechanisms and supplementation are needed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-07172014-232102 |
| Date | 18 July 2014 |
| Creators | Lamb, Amy Rebekah |
| Contributors | Melanie Lutenbacher, Ken Wallston, Shelagh Mulvaney, Lavenia Carpenter |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-07172014-232102/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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