The effect of vitamin d levels on the mood disorders of the operating room and intensive care unit staff

Abstract

Aim: Operating rooms and intensive care units are stressful working environments, therefore mood disorders suchas anxiety and depression ratio are frequent in workers. Additionally increased frequency of vitamin D insufficiency in health workers is demonstrated in other studies. We examined if there is a relationship between vitamin D levels and levels of anxiety-depression in our volunteers working in our operating rooms and intensive care units. Material and Method: The study is carried out over 96 volunteers working in our hospital's operating room and intensive care units. Attendants were asked to answer the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) questionnaire which was validated in Turkey for assessment of anxiety and depression status of participants and containing demographic data. Although vitamin D levels were studied. Results: The average vitamin D levels of attendants was 19.43 ± 7.95. Mean vitamin D levels of intensive care unit workers (16.98 ± 1.04) were significantly lower than of operating room workers (20.90 ± 1.10). The average of HADS-A of workers was 7.43 ± 3.31 and HADS-D average was 5.58 ± 3.32. Improvement in HADS-D scores with aging (senescence) and significantly positive relationship in between HADS-A and HADS-D was found in our study. Also, as vitamin D levels decreasing, increasing in HADS-A and HADS-D scores were deserved and negative relationship between 2,5 %-5.4 % is identified. Discussion: Our study shows that vitamin D deficiency negatively affects anxiety and depression levels in the personnel working at a closed environment like operating rooms and intensive care units.