REVIEW article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Mood Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1622796
Meta-analysis of the effect of vitamin D on depression
Provisionally accepted
- 1Qilu Medical University, Zibo, China
- 21928321183@163.com, Zibo, China
- 3Qilu Medical University, Zibo City, China
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Objective: To investigate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on depressive symptoms by conducting a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.: We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, VIP, Wanfang, and additional databases for relevant literature published between January 1, 2000, and October 31, 2024. Two independent reviewers screened titles, abstracts, and full texts, extracted data, and assessed study quality. RevMan 5.3 software was employed to calculate pooled effect sizes and assess heterogeneity. Results: Twenty trials met our inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis using a random-effects model demonstrated that vitamin D supplementation significantly reduced depressive symptom scores compared to controls (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -0.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.52 to -0.20; P < 0.00001). conclusion: Our findings indicate that vitamin D supplementation is associated with a moderate but statistically significant improvement in depressive symptoms. These results support the potential role of vitamin D as an adjunctive treatment for depression, particularly in individuals with baseline deficiency.
Keywords: Vitamin D, Depression, therapy, Meta-analysis, randomized controlled trials, Symptom relief
Received: 04 May 2025; Accepted: 11 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Liu and Su. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yongsheng Liu, Qilu Medical University, Zibo City, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.