Study of Relationship between Dissociative Disorders and Vitamin-C Status in Rural Subjects of Western Uttar Pradesh

Aim & Objective: To study vitamin C status of rural dissociative disorders population of western U.P. vis-a-vis age and sex matched healthy controls. Materials & Methods: From patients visiting the Psychiatric department of TMMC & RC, thirty dissociative patients, diagnosed according to Structured Clinical Interview DSM-IV-TR schedule, were selected randomly and their serum vitamin C levels were measured by dinitrophenyl hydrazine method. These levels were compared with 30 age-and sex-matched healthy controls. Results: Mean (±SD) serum vitamin C level of dissociative patients and controls were 0.29±0.16 mg/dl and SD 0.39±0.17 mg/dl respectively. The difference between these two groups of subjects was statistically significant (p value < 0.01). Conclusion: This study shows low vitamin C status in dissociative patients as compared to normal individuals, and suggests that vitamin C supplementation can have a positive effect in the treatment of these patients. Keyword: vitamin C, dissociative disorders