Depression and Vitamin D Deficiency: Causality, Assessment, and Clinical Practice Implications

A literature review was conducted to investigate the relationship between low vitamin D concentration and depression and to report on the current knowledge about the assessment and treatment of low vitamin D in individuals with depression. Our literature review found substantial evidence for a significant relationship between depression and vitamin D deficiency but also highlighted the need for more studies to establish the direction of causality in the association between vitamin D deficiency and depression, and to determine the best preventative and treatment strategies for hypovitaminosis D in patients with depression.