Association of serum vitamin D status with development of type 2 diabetes: A retrospective cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background and aimsVitamin D deficiency (VDD) has become a growing global public health issue, which is placing increasing burdens on healthcare systems worldwide due to its multifactorial clinical manifestations. However, epidemiological findings pertaining to VDD's link with various disease pathologies, especially type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), remain contradictory. Through a retrospective cross-sectional analysis, this study aimed to contribute towards the construction of a novel framework for understanding the relationship between VDD and T2DM to subsequently inform relevant public health policy.MethodsA retrospective cross-sectional analysis of the prevalence of diabetes in both VDD and non-VDD groups was conducted. Data pertaining to various biochemical parameters was obtained from the Kasturba hospital database for 500 patients tested for both serum 25(OH)D and blood glucose levels [i.e. random, fasting, post-prandial, and/or hemoglobin A1c (HbA1C)] between 1st January and 30th April 2018.ResultsWithin the study sample, 117 (41.1%) of patients with VDD had T2DM, whereas 72 (33.5%) of patients without VDD had T2DM. This indicates no association between VDD and T2DM (χ2 = 2.98; p = 0.084). Still, an OR value of 1.4, despite statistical insignificance (95%CI:0.96–2.0, p = 0.084) indicates that there is an approximately 40% greater odds of developing T2DM in VDD patients relative to non-VDD patients. Moreover, the likelihood ratio (LR) is 2.99, which indicates an approximately 3-fold chance of having T2DM as a VDD patient, relative to a non-VDD patient.ConclusionsDespite the lack of statistical significance, the findings of this study make important contributions to the existing literature and must be considered in light of their inherent limitations. Taking these into account, it becomes clear that these results should not be extrapolated nor assumed to entirely invalidate the hypothesized link between VDD and T2DM. Rather, such gaps warrant need for further research and more robust study designs to draw sufficiently significant conclusions to justify reforms in clinical practice. Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) has become a growing global public health issue, which is placing increasing burdens on healthcare systems worldwide due to its multifactorial clinical manifestations. However, epidemiological findings pertaining to VDD's link with various disease pathologies, especially type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), remain contradictory. Through a retrospective cross-sectional analysis, this study aimed to contribute towards the construction of a novel framework for understanding the relationship between VDD and T2DM to subsequently inform relevant public health policy. A retrospective cross-sectional analysis of the prevalence of diabetes in both VDD and non-VDD groups was conducted. Data pertaining to various biochemical parameters was obtained from the Kasturba hospital database for 500 patients tested for both serum 25(OH)D and blood glucose levels [i.e. random, fasting, post-prandial, and/or hemoglobin A1c (HbA1C)] between 1st January and 30th April 2018. Within the study sample, 117 (41.1%) of patients with VDD had T2DM, whereas 72 (33.5%) of patients without VDD had T2DM. This indicates no association between VDD and T2DM (χ2 = 2.98; p = 0.084). Still, an OR value of 1.4, despite statistical insignificance (95%CI:0.96–2.0, p = 0.084) indicates that there is an approximately 40% greater odds of developing T2DM in VDD patients relative to non-VDD patients. Moreover, the likelihood ratio (LR) is 2.99, which indicates an approximately 3-fold chance of having T2DM as a VDD patient, relative to a non-VDD patient. Despite the lack of statistical significance, the findings of this study make important contributions to the existing literature and must be considered in light of their inherent limitations. Taking these into account, it becomes clear that these results should not be extrapolated nor assumed to entirely invalidate the hypothesized link between VDD and T2DM. Rather, such gaps warrant need for further research and more robust study designs to draw sufficiently significant conclusions to justify reforms in clinical practice.