(P10-035-24) National Vitamin D Predicts Postpartum Depression Prevalence: Meta-Regression of 412 Studies From 45 Countries

Objectives: Postpartum depression (PPD), the most prevalent complication associated with childbirth, varies dramatically cross-nationally. Vitamin D deficiency, a risk factor for depressive symptoms, also varies cross-nationally. Therefore, we examined whether cross-national variation of nutritional and environmental sources of vitamin D predict cross-national variation in PPD prevalence.

Methods: We conducted a meta-regression to test for associations between national vitamin D metrics (national serum vitamin D, national UV related skin cancer (proxy for sun sourced vitamin D), and national vitamin D food consumption) and national PPD prevalence estimates for 56 countries obtained from a recent published meta-analysis.

Results: Countries with higher UV-attributed skin cancer risk had significantly lower PPD prevalence rates (N=45, Coef. = 1.003, SE = .431, p = .025, 95% CI = -1.872 to -.133). National skin cancer risk associated with UV radiation accounted for 9.52% of the cross-national variation in PPD. In years when UV skin cancer risk was higher in a nation, PPD prevalence tended to be lower in that nation (Coef. = -0.19, SE = .058, p = .025, 95% CI = -0.304 to -.076). National dietary vitamin D consumption and national serum vitamin D were not predictive of cross-national PPD prevalence.

Conclusions: Countries with a higher prevalence of UV-associated skin cancer risk had lower rates of PPD prevalence. These findings support the theory that PPD is a disease affected by environmental factors and suggest vitamin D management as a novel potential approach to manage national PPD prevention.

Funding Sources: No funding to report