Naseema Mehboobali1, Saleem Perwaiz Iqbal2, Muhammad Perwaiz Iqbal3. 1. Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Pakistan. 2. Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Aga Khan University, Pakistan. 3. Ministry of Health Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in a low-income peri-urban population. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted in a low-income, unplanned settlement in Karachi, and comprised apparently healthy adults who were recruited randomly with informed consent. Serum levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D were measured using a kit obtained from Roche Diagnostics. One-way analysis of variance and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Of the 858 subjects, 507(59%) were females and 351(41%) males (age range: 18-60 years). Prevalence estimates of vitamin D deficiency (<20ng/ml) and insufficiency (20.0-29.9ng/ml) were found to be 501(58.4%) and 269(31.4%), respectively. Odds ratio of vitamin D deficiency was significantly higher in females compared to males after adjusting for education and smoking status (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among females in one of the peri-urban areas points towards a public health problem which requires attention of the medical community.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of vitamin Ddeficiency and insufficiency in a low-income peri-urban population. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was conducted in a low-income, unplanned settlement in Karachi, and comprised apparently healthy adults who were recruited randomly with informed consent. Serum levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D were measured using a kit obtained from Roche Diagnostics. One-way analysis of variance and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Of the 858 subjects, 507(59%) were females and 351(41%) males (age range: 18-60 years). Prevalence estimates of vitamin D deficiency (<20ng/ml) and insufficiency (20.0-29.9ng/ml) were found to be 501(58.4%) and 269(31.4%), respectively. Odds ratio of vitamin D deficiency was significantly higher in females compared to males after adjusting for education and smoking status (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among females in one of the peri-urban areas points towards a public health problem which requires attention of the medical community.
Entities:
Keywords:
Vitamin D deficiency, Urban population, Socioeconomic factors.