Objective:

Our objective was to determine if low vitamin D levels in our NeuroMeasures™ data set correlated with worsening mood, fatigue, anxiety and QOL.

Background:

Studies of epilepsy populations show consistent evidence of widespread Vitamin D deficiency with potential benefits of supplementation on mood, fatigue mitigation, and quality of life (QOL).

Design/Methods:

We conducted a retrospective chart review of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels obtained in 515 patient visits (370 unique patients) from the NeuroMeasures™ dataset. Levels were collected within 8 weeks of survey visit. We collected the survey results for Quality Of Life In Epilepsy 10P (QOLIE-10-p, lower score on a continuous scale suggests lower QOL), Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory in Epilepsy (NDDI-E ≥ 15 associated with major depression disorder), Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS ≥ 36 associated with higher fatigue), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7, moderate anxiety score is 5-9; severe anxiety score is 10-14). We compared 25(OH)D) levels and survey results using Pearson correlation coefficients (significant at the 0.01 level [2-tailed]).

Results:

Of 515 unique patient surveys, we identified 88 records in 62 unique patients with 25(OH)D levels where at least one of the four surveys was completed. The average 25(OH)D level was 26.9 ng/mL (range: <7 to 67) and 55 records had levels below 30 ng/mL (low). Low 25(OH)D levels were not significantly correlated with QOLIE-10-p (n=82, Pearson r= -0.117, p=0.293), NDDI-E (n=85, Pearson r =-.016, p=0.883), FSS (n=83, Pearson r = -.030, p=0.793), and GAD-7 (n=78, Pearson r = -0.143, p=0.185).

Conclusions:

 We did not find a correlation in our cohort between lower 25(OH)D levels and lower quality of life and higher depression, anxiety, and fatigue scores. Limitations include small sample size, retrospective review and lack of analysis regarding Vitamin D replacement. Larger prospective studies in Vitamin D’s role in epilepsy care may provide more information.