Abstract
Aim: Health science university students are exposed to a lot of issues that may lead to depression. A poor or unhealthy diet and lack of outdoor places for exercising due to hot weather are major reasons attributed for Vitamin D deficiency in Riyadh. The current study was designed to estimate the prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency and depression and explore if there is a relationship between them among university students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional comparative study survey was distributed to male and female students who study at Al-Maarefa Colleges of Science and Technology during March-May 2017 in Riyadh. The level of depression was measured by DASS 21 scale. Analysis of data was done using SPSS-IBM and P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results and Discussion: As participants of the current study were university students, most of them were in an age group of 20-22 years. Furthermore, the majority of the students volunteered to give their feedback in this questionnaire study were females (74%) when compared to male (26%). High percentage of surveyors in the female section was found with Vitamin D deficiency when compared to their male counterparts. Three scales of DASS 21 revealed a significant association between Vitamin D deficiency and depression. A significant relationship between low Vitamin D level and prevalence of depression is demonstrated in this study. Conclusion: Therefore, efforts are necessary to bring about awareness among university students to take effective steps to combat Vitamin D deficiency, and hence possible induction of depression could be avoided that might increase their academic performance.