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Diagnosis and management of vitamin D deficiency in the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) countries: an expert consensus summary statement from the GCC vitamin D advisory board

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Abstract

Objective

A summary of recommendations is given within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) setting on the assessment and management of vitamin D deficiency in the region.

Methods

An assembly of 11 regional experts gathered to formulate an all-inclusive approach to vitamin D deficiency within GCC.

Results and Conclusion

Several gaps were identified before regional guidelines could be developed. These include adequacy and standardization of vitamin D testing, frequency of repeated testing and reference ranges, distinguishing prevention from the treatment of vitamin D deficiency, quality assurance of vitamin D products sold within GCC including contents and origins of products, and cut-points for vitamin D levels in local populations. A platform is created that can be further developed for overall regional implementation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Chair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, Deanship of Scientific Research Chairs in King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for their support.

Funding

Logistics of the initial meeting of the authors was unconditionally facilitated by Consilient Health, MENA Office, Dubai UAE. The funding body had no role in the conception, drafting, or finalization of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Yousef Al Saleh & Naji Aljohani

  2. King Abdullah International Medical Research centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Yousef Al Saleh

  3. Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Yousef Al Saleh

  4. Biochemistry Department, Chair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Yousef Al Saleh, Naji Aljohani, Shaun Sabico & Nasser Al-Daghri

  5. Department of Medicine, Dubai Medical College, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Salem A. Beshyah

  6. Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Mediclinic Airport Road, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Salem A. Beshyah

  7. Dr Wiam Clinic, Royal Bahrain Hospital, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain

    Wiam Hussein

  8. Alborj Medical Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Abdulrazzaq Almadani

  9. Dubai Diabetes Centre, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Ahmed Hassoun

  10. Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman

    Ali Al Mamari

  11. Diabetes and Endocrine Centre, Dammam Medical Complex, Dammam, Saudi Arabia

    Ebtesam Ba-Essa

  12. Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia

    Ebtesam Ba-Essa & Waleed Al-Baker

  13. Alalam Medical centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Essa Al-Dhafiri

  14. Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai Hospital, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Mohammed Hassanein

  15. Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Mona A. Fouda

  16. Unit of Endocrinology & Metabolism, Amiri Hospital, Kuwait City, Kuwait

    Nadia Al Ali

  17. Obesity, Endocrine and Metabolism Centre, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Naji Aljohani

  18. Gulf Medical and Diabetes Centre, Manama, Bahrain

    Nasreen Al-Sayed

  19. Department of Endocrinology, University Hospitals Birmingham and University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Neil Gittoes

  20. Hamad Medical Corporation, Endocrine Section, Qatar Metabolic Institute, Doha, Qatar

    Tarik Elhadd

Authors
  1. Yousef Al Saleh
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  2. Salem A. Beshyah
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  3. Wiam Hussein
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  4. Abdulrazzaq Almadani
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  5. Ahmed Hassoun
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  6. Ali Al Mamari
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  7. Ebtesam Ba-Essa
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  8. Essa Al-Dhafiri
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  9. Mohammed Hassanein
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  10. Mona A. Fouda
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  11. Nadia Al Ali
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  12. Naji Aljohani
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  13. Nasreen Al-Sayed
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  14. Neil Gittoes
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  15. Tarik Elhadd
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  16. Waleed Al-Baker
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  17. Shaun Sabico
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  18. Nasser Al-Daghri
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Contributions

YAS and NAD conceived the idea of the statement and drafted the original manuscript. All authors (SAB, WH, AA, AH, AAM, EBE, EAD, MH, MAF, NAA, NA, NAS, NG, TE, WAB, and SS) critically revised the manuscript for intellectual content, language, and presentation. All authors approved the final version of the article.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yousef Al Saleh.

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Al Saleh, Y., Beshyah, S.A., Hussein, W. et al. Diagnosis and management of vitamin D deficiency in the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) countries: an expert consensus summary statement from the GCC vitamin D advisory board. Arch Osteoporos 15, 35 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11657-020-0709-8

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