Which factors are associated with health related quality of life one year after an acute hospitalisation in an elderly patient population?

Abstract

to assess the prevalence of inadequate serum vitamin D levels in European women aged over 80years. Material and methods.– Assessment of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] was performed in 8532 European women with osteoporosis or osteopenia, of which 1984 were aged over 80years. European countries included France, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Poland, Hungary, United Kingdom, Spain and Germany. Two cut-offs of 25(OH)D inadequacy were fixed: <75nmol/L and<50nmol/L. Results.– Mean (SD) age of the patients was 83.4 (2.9) years, body mass index was 25.0 (4.0) kg/m2. Level of 25(OH)D was 53.3 (26.7) nmol/L. There was a highly significant difference of 25(OH)D level across European countries (P<0.0001)with the lowest level of 25(OH)D found in France [47.7 (26.4) nmol/L]. In thesewomenaged over80years, theprevalenceof 25(OH)D inadequacywas88.6%and 53.4% when considering cut-offs of 75 and 50nmol/L, respectively. In the 397 (20.0%) patients taking supplemental vitamin D with or without supplemental calcium, themean serum25(OH)D levelwas significantly higher than in the other patients (65.2 (29.2) nmol/L vs 50.3 (25.2) nmol/L; P<0.001). Conclusion.– This study indicates a high prevalence of vitamin D [25(OH)D] inadequacy in old European women. The prevalence could be even higher in some particular countries.