The Study
Effects of Vitamin B12 and Folic Acid Supplementation on Negative Symptoms as the Primary Outcome and Positive and Cognitive Symptoms as Secondary Outcomes in Schizophrenia: A Randomized Controlled Trial
This study is like a fair test where some people got special vitamins and others got sugar pills, and no one knew who got what. The people who got the vitamins felt better in some ways, so we can say the vitamins probably helped. But we can't say they fixed everything or will work for everyone.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists tested if taking daily B12 or folic acid pills helps people with long-term schizophrenia feel less emotionally flat, even when they're already on antipsychotic medicine.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 582 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1A 20-point drop on this scale is considered a big, meaningful improvement in daily life — like going from being mostly withdrawn to being more engaged with others.
- 2After 8 weeks, people who took B12 or folic acid felt 19–26 points better on a symptom scale (like going from 80 to 55), while those on placebo barely changed.
- 3Their blood levels of B12 or folate went up a lot.
- 4Their hallucinations and thinking skills didn't change.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Iranian Journal of Psychiatry
Year
2026
Authors
Mahnaz Shah Ali, Omid Rezaei, R. Shideh, G. Sadighi
Related Content
Claims (6)
Low levels of folate and Vitamin B12 are associated with the rise in chronic fatigue cases in modern populations.
In adults with chronic schizophrenia taking risperidone, taking 1 mg of vitamin B12 or 1 mg of folic acid daily for eight weeks does not change the severity of positive symptoms such as hallucinations or delusions, as measured by the SAPS scale.
In adults with chronic schizophrenia taking risperidone, taking 1 mg of vitamin B12 or 1 mg of folic acid daily for eight weeks does not change scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination.
In adults with chronic schizophrenia taking stable risperidone, taking 1 mg of vitamin B12 or 1 mg of folic acid daily for eight weeks raises blood levels of vitamin B12 by 177–211 pg/mL and folate by 3.4–3.6 ng/mL.
In adults with chronic schizophrenia taking stable risperidone, daily supplements of 1 mg vitamin B12 or 1 mg folic acid for eight weeks reduce negative symptoms by 19.4 to 26.5 points on the SANS scale, with large effect sizes, while placebo does not produce a significant change.
In adults with chronic schizophrenia taking risperidone, taking vitamin B12 alone, folic acid alone, or both together leads to the same level of reduction in negative symptoms, with no meaningful difference between the three approaches.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.