Effects of Supplementation with Folic Acid and Vitamin B12 Tablets as Adjunctive Therapy for People with Depression in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria

This study assessed the effects of folic acid and vitamin B12 supplementation as adjunctive therapy for individuals with depression in Calabar, Cross River State.Conducted as a randomized controlled trial, the study involved one control and three intervention groups, with block randomization used to allocate 22 participants per group.Data collection utilized a structured questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) for depression assessment, and the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule-9 (WHODAS).Descriptive analyses included frequency counts, means, percentages, and standard deviations, while Student's t-test was used for comparisons, with significance set at P < 0.05.Findings revealed that depressive symptom scores significantly decreased in the intervention groups.In participants receiving folic acid, scores dropped from a mean of 13.82 at baseline to 7.95 after eight weeks, while those receiving vitamin B12 showed a reduction from 14.05 to 6.55.The combination therapy group (folic acid and vitamin B12) had the most pronounced improvement, with scores declining from 13.91 to 5.23.The control group showed only a slight decrease (14.64 to 13.95).Additionally, return to function scores improved significantly in the combination therapy group (33.05 to 23.32) compared to the control group (32.86 to 30.50).Hypothesis testing confirmed statistically significant effects of supplementation on depressive symptom remission (P < .0001)and return to function (P < .0003).The study concludes that folic acid and vitamin B12 supplementation significantly improves depression outcomes and recommends their consideration as adjunctive therapy for depression management.