Risk factors and prevalence of vitamin d deficiency among Iranian women attending two university hospitals

Sadaf Alipour; Azin Saberi; Akram Seifollahi; Nooshin Shirzad; Ladan Hosseini

doi:10.5812/ircmj.15461

Risk factors and prevalence of vitamin d deficiency among Iranian women attending two university hospitals

Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2014 Oct 5;16(10):e15461. doi: 10.5812/ircmj.15461. eCollection 2014 Oct.

Authors

Sadaf Alipour¹, Azin Saberi², Akram Seifollahi³, Nooshin Shirzad⁴, Ladan Hosseini¹

Affiliations

¹ Research Development Center, Arash Women's Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
² Department of Surgery, Arash Women's Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
³ Pathology Department, Arash Women's Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
⁴ Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute, Dr. Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.

Abstract

Background: Several studies indicated that there is a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Middle East countries.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and assess some risk factors of vitamin D deficiency among women attending our clinics in Tehran, the capital of Iran.

Patients and methods: Five hundred and thirty-eight women aged 20-80 years were entered in this cross-sectional study from 2011 to 2012. Serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels were measured in all participants after recruiting their demographic and anthropometric data and past medical histories. Deficiency was defined as levels less than 35 nmol/L and classified as mild (≥ 25 nmol/L), moderate (12.5-25 nmol/L) and severe (≤ 12.5 nmol/L).

Results: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 69%; mild, moderate and severe degrees were seen in %10.4, %38.3, and %20.3 respectively. Analysis of logistic regression shows that age (OR:0.96, CI: 0.93-0.97), menopause (OR: 0.44, CI: 0.21-0.99) and consumption of multivitamin supplements (OR: 2.67, CI: 1.4-5) were independent predictive factors for Vitamin D deficiency.

Conclusions: This study showed a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among Iranian women especially in reproductive ages.

Keywords: Deficiency; Iran; Prevalence; Vitamin D.