Evidence map›Paper›PMID 17568057›Full record

SynthesisJournal of epidemiology and community health2007

Is low folate a risk factor for depression? A meta-analysis and exploration of heterogeneity.

Simon Gilbody, Tracy Lightfoot, Trevor Sheldon

Open access · bronzeAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of epidemiology and community health, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 82 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
82citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
6.3field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

82 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 251 citations in OpenAlex.

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22 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Simon GilbodyDepartment of Health Sciences, University of York, YO10 5DD, York, UK. sg519@york.ac.uk.
Tracy Lightfoot
Trevor Sheldon
University of York · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Low folate has been causatively linked to depression, but research is contradictory. An association may arise due to chance, bias, confounding or reverse causality. A systematic review of observational studies which examined the association between depression and folate was conducted. 11 relevant studies (15 315 participants; three case-control studies, seven population surveys and one cohort study) examining the risk of depression in the presence of low folate were found. Pooling showed a significant relationship between folate status and depression (odds ratio (OR)(pooled unadjusted) = 1.55; 95% CI 1.26 to 1.91). This relationship remained after adjustment for potential confounding (OR)(pooled adjusted) = 1.42; 95% CI 1.10 to 1.83). Folate levels were also lower in depression. There is accumulating evidence that low folate status is associated with depression. Much of this evidence comes from case-control and cross-sectional studies. Cohort studies and definitive randomised-controlled trials to test the therapeutic benefit of folate are required to confirm or refute a causal relationship.

Indexed as

DepressionFolic AcidHumansUnited KingdomFolic Acid

Identifiers

PMID17568057
PMCPMC2465760
OpenAlexW2168572302

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.