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Widespread vitamin D deficiency among Indian health care professionals

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Abstract

Summary

Information on vitamin D status of Indian health care professionals is limited. Among 2,119 subjects studied, just 6 % were found to be sufficient in vitamin D status. There is urgent need of an integrated approach to detect and treat vitamin D deficiency among health care professionals to improve on-the-job productivity.

Introduction

Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent worldwide. India has been reported to be one of the worst affected countries. Several single-center studies from India have shown high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. Little is known regarding the vitamin D status of Indian health care professionals.

Aim

This study aimed to determine prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among health care professionals in different regions of India.

Method

In this cross-sectional, multicenter study, we enrolled 2,119 medical and paramedical personnel from 18 Indian cities. Blood samples were collected from December 2010 to March 2011 and analyzed in a central laboratory by radioimmunoassay. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] <20 ng/mL or <50 nmol/L, insufficiency as 25(OH)D = 20–30 ng/mL or 50–75 nmol/L, and sufficiency as 25(OH)D >30 ng/mL or >75 nmol/L.

Results

Mean (±SD) age of subjects was 42.71 ± 6.8 years. Mean (±SD) 25(OH)D level was 14.35 ± 10.62 ng/mL (median 11.93 ng/mL). Seventy-nine percent of subjects were deficient, 15 % were insufficient, and just 6 % were sufficient in vitamin D status. No significant difference was found between vitamin D status in southern (25(OH)D = 13.3 ± 6.4 ng/mL) and northern (25(OH)D = 14.4 ± 8.5 ng/mL) parts of India.

Conclusion

Our study confirms the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency all across India in apparently healthy, middle-aged health care professionals.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by USV limited, India. The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance provided by Drs. Pooja Sharma and Padam Singh for the conduct of this study.

Conflicts of interest

None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Endocrinology, Medanta the Medicity, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

    Maria Beloyartseva, Ambrish Mithal & Parjeet Kaur

  2. Department of Endocrinology, Bharti Hospital & B.R.I.D.E., Karnal, India

    Sanjay Kalra

  3. Department of Endocrinology, Excel Care Hospitals, Guwahati, Assam, India

    Manash P. Baruah

  4. Department of Endocrinology, Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Kolkata, India

    Satinath Mukhopadhyay

  5. Department of Endocrinology, St. John’s Medical College & Hospital, Bangalore, India

    Ganapathy Bantwal

  6. Department of Endocrinology, Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital, Mumbai, India

    Tushar R. Bandgar

  7. Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Medanta Medicity, Gurgaon (Delhi NCR), Gurgaon, Haryana, 122001, India

    Ambrish Mithal

Authors
  1. Maria Beloyartseva
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Correspondence to Ambrish Mithal.

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Beloyartseva, M., Mithal, A., Kaur, P. et al. Widespread vitamin D deficiency among Indian health care professionals. Arch Osteoporos 7, 187–192 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11657-012-0096-x

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