Iron Supplementation Intermittently in Reducing the Severity of Depression

To investigate the effect of iron supplementation on the severity of depression among anemic students. The study design was Quasi Experimental Trial and conducted in the Department of Allied health sciences, The University of Lahore, Lahore from May to December 2019. The severity and symptoms of depression was measured by Beck’s depression scale. 781 female students were analyzed and 377 students were enrolled in the study. Written informed consent were taken from the students. A semi-structured proforma was used for documenting the outcome variables. Blood samples were taken for Hemoglobin (Hb) level. Iron supplementation significantly reduced the severity of depression (21 ± 2.98, p < 0.001) at baseline versus post study (17.47 ± 3.31, p < 0.001) by using Beck’s Depression scale (BDI). The results showed that there was a significance improvement in post study hemoglobin (Hb) in comparison with baseline Hb (Hb at baseline =10.79± 0.60, P <0.001 vs Hb at post study = 10.97 ± 0.83, P<0.001). After intervention, subjects with continued depression had high rate of iron deficiency anemia. These data are valuable as they enable us to conclude that iron supplementation can reduce the severity of depression in the iron deficient anemic students