The Impact of Vitamin D Status on COVID-19 Severity among Hospitalized Patients in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study.

Alaa Qadhi,Reham Mustafa,Khloud Ghafouri,Taqwa Bushnaq,Fadiyah Algethami,Wedad Azhar,Asma Al Malki

doi:10.3390/ijerph19031901

Abstract

The coronaviruses disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads continuously worldwide. The new vaccines and drugs have been approved. The prevention of disease is crucial, and some studies reveal the promising effect of alternative therapies such as vitamin D supplementations on COVID-19 prevention, but they still require sufficient evidence. Therefore, the current retrospective multicenter cross-sectional study aims to determine the primary association between the vitamin D status of hospitalized COVID-19 and its severity as well as mortality. A total of 197 COVID-19 were admitted at King Faisal Hospital, Al Noor Specialist Hospital in Makkah, and at Complex King Faisal Hospital in Taif in the Westering region of Saudi Arabia (SA) between June and August 2020. The demographic and clinical characteristics, laboratory tests included serum 25(OH)D and admission for intensive care unit (ICU), length of stay in the hospital, mechanical ventilation (MV) support, and mortality were recorded and analyzed. Vitamin D deficiency (25(OH)D < 20 ng/mL) was found in 73.10% of all study population. Multiple logistic regression was used after adjusted covariances such as age, gender, diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease (CKD). No statistically significant was shown for ICU admission [Odd Ratio, OR 1.25 (95% confidence interval, CI 0.41–3.88) p = 0.70], MV support [Odd Ratio, OR 3.12 (95% confidence interval, CI 0.74–13.21) p = 0.12] and mortality [Odd Ratio, OR 2.39 (95% confidence interval, CI 0.31–18.11), p = 0.40]. These data didn’t support the association between serum 25(OH)D and the severity of the disease among hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Highlights

A novel coronavirus known as Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) was identified in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019 [1,2]
We investigated the hypothesis that vitamin D status is associated with COVID-19 severity
The objective of this study was to examine the association of vitamin D levels with admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), length of hospital stays, and clinical outcome of 197 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the Western region of Saudi Arabia (SA)

Summary

Introduction

A novel coronavirus known as Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) was identified in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019 [1,2]. COVID-19 was officially named for the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 by the World Health Organization (WHO) on. 11 February 2020 (WHO, 2020a) [3].The WHO classified COVID-19 as a global pandemic and a public health emergency on 11 March 2020 (WHO, 2020b) [4]. The clinical manifestations of COVID-19 vary from asymptomatic to life-threatening conditions [5]. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, fatigue, myalgia, and coughing. Less common symptoms are headache, runny nose, sputum production, sore throat, hemoptysis, and diarrhea [6]. Patients with severe symptoms require hospital admission and may develop complications such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), acute respiratory injury, renal injury, arrhythmia, and septic shock, requiring intensive care unit (ICU) therapy [7,8]

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