Proportion of Vitamin D Deficiency in Subjects with Excessive Day Time Sleepiness in a Tertiary Care Psychiatric setting in Thiruvananthapuram

BACKGROUND The role of vitamin D in normal human physiology has garnered a lot of discussions lately. It is now considered that Vitamin D exerts multiple effects beyond its role in bone physiology. Growing evidence suggests an association between hypovitaminosis D and sleep disorders, thus increasing the interest in the role of this vitamin in sleep. Vitamin D receptors have been found in the brain regions involved in sleep regulation, and vitamin D appears to be involved in regulating the sleep wake cycle. The study intended to explore the proportion of patients with excessive daytime sleepiness having vitamin D deficiency. METHODS This was a cross sectional study conducted in an urban primary care psychiatric clinic. The vitamin D levels of seventy-five patients who attended the clinic with complains of decreased sleep between the ages of 20 -75 years was collected. Their sleep score was assessed using Epsworth sleepiness scale and proportion with their vitamin D deficiency was analysed. RESULTS Of the 75 patients, 40 (53.3 %) were males and 35 (46.7 %) were females. The average vitamin D of the population was 16.62 with a standard deviation of 9.17. (16.62 ± 9.17). Of the analysed patients 13 (17.3 %) had severe vit D deficiency, 40 (53.3 %) had moderate deficiency and 19 (25.3 %) had mild deficiency. 3 (4 %) patients had normal vitamin D levels. CONCLUSIONS Vitamin D has both a direct and an indirect role in the regulation of sleep. Although vitamin D deficiency has been associated to sleep disorders, there is still scant evidence to concretely support the role of vitamin D supplementation in the prevention or treatment of sleep disturbances; indeed, more intervention studies and RCT are needed to better clarify these aspects. KEY WORDS Vitamin D, Deficiency, Sleep Disorders, Adults