Prevalence Of Vitamin D Deficiency In Northern Temperate Region Of India

Background: Vitamin D plays an essential role in maintaining skeletal integrity and function among other health benefits. Vitamin D deficiency has a bearing not only on skeletal but also on extra-skeletal diseases. It plays a notable role in contributing to several leading causes of death including cardiovascular disease, cancers and diabetes. We sought the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Kashmir, a northern temperate region of India where it has been previously thought to be omnipresent. Methods: This study was conducted across two tertiary care centers namely skims medical college hospital bemina Srinagar and Government medical college Srinagar wherein a total of 4895 patients were included among which 1936 were males and 2959 females. Samples were collected from April to November 2021.Vitamin D deficiency was defined as 25(OH) D concentration of <20 ng/ml.Vitamin D insufficiency was defined as 25(OH) D concentration of 20-30 ng/ml, sufficient Vitamin D level was defined as 25(OH) D concentration of 30 - 100 ng/ml and a risk of Vitamin D toxicity was defined as 25(OH) D concentration >100 ng/ml. Results: Vitamin D deficiency was seen in 1635(33.4%) patients out of which 981(60%) were females and 654(40%) were males. A total of 543(11.09%) patients had severe Vitamin D deficiency out of which 370(68.1%) were females and 173(31.9%) were males. Insufficient Vitamin D levels were seen in 1364(27.86%) patients of which 797(58.4%) were females and 567(41.6%) were males. Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency is quiet prevalent in Kashmir valley and has been seen more commonly among the females. However it may not be as widely prevalent as has been previously observed in the region.