Background: Hypovitaminosis C and D are highly prevalent in acute-care hospitals. Malnutrition with regard to these vitamins has been linked to... » More

Background: Hypovitaminosis C and D are highly prevalent in acute-care hospitals. Malnutrition with regard to these vitamins has been linked to mood disturbance and cognitive dysfunction.

Objective: To determine whether vitamin C or D supplementation improves mood state or reduces psychological distress in acutely hospitalized patients with a high prevalence of hypovitaminosis C and D.

Methods: Randomized, double-blind, active-control clinical trial comparing the effect of vitamin C (500 mg twice daily) versus high-dose vitamin D (5000 IU daily) on mood (Profile of Mood StatesTM) and psychological distress (Distress Thermometer).

Results: Vitamin C provision for a mean of 8.2 days increased plasma vitamin C concentrations to normal (P < 0.0001) and was associated with a 71% reduction in mood disturbance (P = 0.0002) and a 51% reduction in psychological distress (P = 0.0002). High-dose vitamin D provision for a mean of 8.1 days increased plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations (P < 0.0001), but not into the normal range, and had insignificant effects on mood (P = 0.067) and distress (P = 0.45). The changes in mood and distress in the vitamin C group were greater than those in the vitamin D group (P = 0.045 for mood; P = 0.009 for distress).

Conclusions: Short term therapy with vitamin C improves mood and reduces psychological distress in acutely hospitalized patients with a high prevalence of hypovitaminosis C and D. No conclusion is possible regarding the effects of vitamin D, since the dose and duration of therapy were insufficient to raise 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations into the normal range. Trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01630720

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