Vitamin D status in a case series of Armenian population: one center cohort datA

Abstract

Documenting the current status of vitamin D and its trends is one of goals of nutritional assessment and monitoring for the health agencies. The purpose of current study was to examine the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in a case-series of Armenian population based on one center cohort data, and to reveal its association with season, age and sex. In 2018, 1525 patients were evaluated. Vitamin D insufficiency was defined as a serum 25-OH vitamin D concentration (25-OHD) <20ng/ml. The season was detected as “sunny season” – from May to October inclusively, and “non-sunny” season – from November to April. All analyses were performed using statistical software (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21.0; IBM Corp., USA). Values of p<0.05 were considered statistically significant. The male/female ratio of investigated patients was 1/2.5, and mean age was 35.14±17.66. No significant difference in vitamin D insufficiency prevalence was found between 3 age groups (p>0.05). The average 25-OH vitamin D level of all investigated patients was 24.11±9.66. The overall prevalence rate of vitamin D insufficiency was 29.3% (n=447), having a significant link with the winter “non-sunny” season (p<0.01), when the sun exposure on the skin is not enough, regardless the sex (p>0.05). No correlation was found between 25-OHD insufficiency and age of patients (p>0.05). In summary, we conclude that 25-OHD insufficiency is common in Armenian population and is linked with seasonal period. It is important, that health care providers and government health agencies in Armenia are aware of this prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and develop and re-evaluate over time the country-specific health policy and programs.