Does Vitamin D3 Supplementation Improve Depression Scores among Rural Adolescents? A Randomized Controlled Trial.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in this randomized controlled trial publication.

The objective of this study was to assess the effect of vitamin D supplementation on depression scores among rural adolescents.

To assess sociodemographic status, a pretested, semi-structured questionnaire was used, and, to assess depression, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) was used.

From the start of the trial, the participants were contacted every week by the pediatric team to investigate any side effects.

Why It Was Studied

Individuals with normal vitamin D levels have a much lower probability of developing depression.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 3 adolescents taking part.

PubMed indexes the participants as teenagers, both men and women.

A baseline assessment was carried out for vitamin D status and depression status, followed by a post-intervention assessment.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

The sample size was calculated based on previous research and was determined to be 150 for each group.

What Was Measured

Individuals with normal vitamin D levels have a much lower probability of developing depression.

The subject headings attached to it are Dietary Supplements, Depression, Cholecalciferol, Rural Population, Vitamin D Deficiency, Vitamin D and India.

The authors tagged it with the keywords RCT, rural adolescents and vitamin D supplementation.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 3 adolescents.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Its findings take up roughly 5 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2024 (Nutrients), a journal based in Switzerland.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.