Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women visiting a secondary care centre of North India

Abstract

Vitamin D deficiency is the most common deficiency in hilly areas of North India. Studies of vitamin D suggest that it is not only responsible for rickets, but is also involved in cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, pregnancy related complications. Data regarding vitamin d deficiency in pregnancy is scanty, especially in hilly areas of north India. Therefore this study was done, to find out the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in pregnant women of rural north India. Method: 106 pregnant women after 16 weeks of gestation were enrolled in this study after informed consent over a period of 10 months from August 2020 to May 2021 and serum 25(OH)D levels estimated using CLIA. A level <20ng/ml was considered as Vitamin D deficiency, <32ng/ml as insufficiency and >32ng/ml as adequacy. 62.26% women were found to be Vitamin D insufficient and 29.24% were deficient in vitamin D. Only 9 women had sufficient vitamin D levels. Most of the women were lost to follow up, only 47 women were followed up till delivery and their various outcomes noted. Conclusion: There is presence of wide spread vitamin d insufficiency among pregnant women in north India, and since the blood test is expensive, routine supplementation with higher doses of vitamin D in pregnancy is cost effective.