Vitamin D deficiency among adults attending primary health care centers in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Background: Deficiency of vitamin D is very common. It has been recognized as a pandemic worldwide.Although it's sunny throughout the year, it is more common in the Middle East and Gulf region. Objectives: The goal of this study is to ascertain the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in adults aged 21 to 60 years of age and to explore its relationship to different variables. Patients and Methods: A cross sectional study of 370 adults, aged 21-60 years,was conducted. A random selection of individuals was done from six primary health care clinics in the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in the year of 2012.Serum levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D, demographic data, body mass index, presence or absence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, chronic kidney disease and inflammatory bowel disease were the variables of interest.The cutoff values for vitamin D were defined as follows: deficient (<50nmol/L), insufficient (50-75 nmol/L) and normal (. 75 nmol/L). Results: 237 (64%) of subjects were vitamin D deficient, 98 (26.5%) were vitamin D insufficient and only 35 (9.5%) were vitamin D sufficient. Vitamin D deficiency was more frequent in females than males [181(65.6%)vs. 56(59.6%)]. Higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was particularly noted in the age group 21-30 years (73.6%). No statistically significant relationships were noted between deficiency of vitamin D and ethnicity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, chronic kidney disease and inflammatory bowel disease. Conclusions: Deficiency and insufficiency of vitamin D are very common among adults attending primary health care centers. It is more common in females and younger age groups. No other statistically significant relationships were noted.