High prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy: A social health problem in India

Abstract

Abstract Background: Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is an important public health problem and is implicated as a risk factor for glucose intolerance during pregnancy. We studied the prevalence of VDD in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Materials and Methods: All GDM and T2DM patients evaluated between October and December 2014 were included in this cross-sectional, observational study. Patients with the use of vitamin D, glucocorticoids, and secondary diabetes were excluded. We diagnosed VDD as a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) less than 30 ng/ml and GDM based on the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. The data were compared with 10 gestational, age-matched controls with normal glucose tolerance (NGT). Appropriate statistical methods were used for comparison between the three groups. Results: The study participants (37 GDM, 13 T2DM, and 10 NGT) had a median (25th-75th interquartile) age of 26 (24.3, 30) years, gestational age of 24.5 (21, 27) weeks, and 25OHD of 10.5 (8.1, 14.8) ng/ml. VDD was seen in 35 GDM, 12 T2DM, and eight patients with NGT (P = 0. 9637). The median 25OHD levels were comparable between the three groups (10, 10.6, and 13.95; P = 0. 1192). Univariate analysis did not show higher odds of GDM or T2DM in patients with VDD (P = 0. 1903). Conclusion: Our data showed that the prevalence of VDD is high during pregnancy, irrespective of the glucose intolerance. Large scale population studies are required to determine the association between the VDD and GDM.