The Association between Serum Magnesium Levels and Depression in an Adult Primary Care Population
Open accessAbstract
Depression is common, places a large burden on the patient, their family and community, and is often difficult to treat. Magnesium supplementation is associated with improved depressive symptoms, but because the mechanism is unknown, it is unclear whether serum magnesium levels act as a biological predictor of the treatment outcome. Therefore, we sought to describe the relationship between serum magnesium and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ, a measure of depression) scores. A cross-sectional analysis of medical records from 3604 adults (mean age 62 years; 42% men) seen in primary care clinics between 2015 and 2018, with at least one completed PHQ were included. The relationship between serum magnesium and depression using univariate analyses showed a significant effect when measured by the PHQ-2 (−0.19 points/mg/dL; 95% CI −0.31, −0.07; P = 0.001) and the PHQ-9 (−0.93 points/mg/dL; 95% CI −1.81, −0.06; P = 0.037). This relationship was strengthened after adjusting for covariates (age, gender, race, time between serum magnesium and PHQ tests, and presence of diabetes and chronic kidney disease) (PHQ-2: −0.25 points/mg/dL; 95% CI −3.33, −0.09; P < 0.001 and PHQ-9: −1.09 95% CI −1.96 −0.21; P = 0.015). For adults seen in primary care, lower serum magnesium levels are associated with depressive symptoms, supporting the use of supplemental magnesium as therapy. Serum magnesium may help identify the biological mechanism of depressive symptoms and identify patients likely to respond to magnesium supplementation.
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In a recent study in 3600 subjects with a mean age of 62 years, those with high serum magnesium were less likely to be depressed.
“a recent study in 3600 subjects with a mean age of 62 years observed that those with a high serum magnesium were less likely to be depressed [185].”
From Vitamins and Minerals for Energy, Fatigue and Cognition: A Narrative Review of the Biochemical and Clinical Evidence (2020) · cites this paper as [185]
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References 50 · Cited by 45
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- [25]Chernecky C. Berger B. Magnesium-serum. Laboratory Tests and Diagnostic Procedures 6th ed. Elsevier Saunders St. Louis, MO, USA 2013 750 751
- [33]Serefko A. Szopa A. Wlaz P. Nowak G. Radziwon-Zaleska M. Skalski M. Poleszak E. Magnesium in depression Pharmacol. Rep. 2013 65 547 554 10.1016/S1734-1140(13)71032-6 23950577 · DOI
- Authors
- Tarleton, E. K., Kennedy, A. G., Rose, G. L., Crocker, A., & Littenberg, B.
- Affiliations
- University of Vermont (US)
- Corresponding author
- Tarleton, Emily K.
- Venue
- Nutrients
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2019-06-28
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1475
- ISSN
- 2072-6643 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6683054
- OpenAlex
- W2954728517
- Cited by
- 45
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 6
- FWCI
- 4.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- dx.doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nutrients (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Magnesium in Health and Disease
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Keywords
- serum magnesium, depression, depressive symptoms, magnesium supplementation, Patient Health Questionnaire, primary care, biomarkers, hypomagnesemia, treatment response prediction
- MeSH terms
- Patient Health Questionnaire, Adolescent, Adult, Affect, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depression, Female, Humans, Magnesium, Magnesium Deficiency, Male, Middle Aged, Primary Health Care, Risk Factors, Biomarkers, Risk Assessment, Young Adult, Electronic Health Records
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