Vitamin D Defficiency in Rheumatology Clinic Practice in Qatar

Abstract

In order to assess the prevalence ofvitamin-D deficiency in patients attending the rheumatology outpatient clinic at Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar; 360 consecutive pa-tients (97% female) were tested for fasting levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, parathyroid hormone, calciumphos-phorus, albumin and alkaline phosphatase. Two hundred and three patients (56%) showed vitamin D levels below 20 ng/ml. From the results obtained it is concluded that lev-els of serum calcium, phosphorus, and alkaline phos-phatase are of limited value in predicting vitamin-D sta-tus. The difficulty of skin synthesis in heavily-robed women is discussed and it is concluded that hypovitaminosis D is frequent in such women and that routine assays of vitamin D and parathyroid hormone and vitamin D supplementa-tion would be beneficial.