EVALUATION OF VITAMIN D STATUS IN APPARENTLY HEALTHY WOMEN ABOVE 20 YEARS OF AGE ATTENDING A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL
*R. Reshma and D. Anitha
ABSTRACT
Introduction: There is widespread prevalence of vitamin D deficiency
among Indian postmenopausal women. However, there is limited
information of the vitamin D status in apparently healthy Indian
women of reproductive age group. Objective: To estimate the
prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency among apparently healthy women
aged 20 years and above attending a tertiary care hospital and to study
the association of low vitamin D levels with biochemical and sociodemographic
parameters. Methods: The descriptive study was carried
out in 74 apparently healthy women subjects above 20 years of age
who were selected randomly from health plan clinic of St John’s
Medical College and Hospital, Bangalore. These subjects, who were
divided in three groups: Premenopausal (21-45years), Menopausal (46-
55years) and Postmenopausal (>55 years) age groups, underwent anthropometric
measurements, and biochemical evaluation for vitamin D status along with a questionnaire to
identify the sociodemographic factors. Descriptive statistics was carried out in the present
study. Results: Hypovitaminosis D was identified among all the subjects included in the
study with a mean serum 25(OH) total vitamin D level (ng/ml) of 13.8 5.4 S.D (95%
confidence interval: 7.0 ng/ml – 26.8 ng/ml). Out of all the subjects, 17.6% were vitamin D
insufficient (20.0 –<30.0 ng/ml), 56.8% were vitamin D deficient (<20.0 ng/ml) and 25.7%
were moderately vitamin D deficient (<10 ng/ml). The serum 25(OH) D levels showed a
negative correlation with serum PTH levels, but was not statistically significant (p> 0.05, r =
- 0.548), more than 50% of subjects with severe Vitamin D deficiency had PTH levels within
normal range. Conclusion: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among the study
population was 100% across the different age groups, despite the abundant sunshine in India. To clearly state the enormity of Vitamin D deficiency status in India continued research and
epidemiological investigations are required.
Keywords: 25(OH) D = 25-hydroxyvitamin D; PTH = Parathyroid hormone.
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