Original Article Vitamin D deficiency in young women of childbearing age: the elephant in the room

High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency has been reported from Saudi Arabia. The objective of this study was to assess the vitamin D status among Saudi women of childbearing age and analyze its association with rel- evant biochemical parameters. We assessed serum 25(OH) vitamin D status in Saudi Arabian pre-pregnant (n=20), pregnant (n=235) and postnatal (n=149) women and analyzed its correlation with various biochemical parameters, including PTH and calcium. Results showed that all the subjects in the pre-pregnant and pregnant groups had less than sufficient 25(OH) vitamin D levels (<75 nmol/L). In the postnatal group only one had sufficient level of 25(OH) vitamin D. In the pregnant group, 80% had severe 25(OH) vitamin D deficiency (<25 nmol/L). The means of 25(OH) vitamin D level in pre-pregnant, pregnant and postnatal women were 20.37, 18.37 and 26.81 nmol/L, respectively. Values of various biochemical parameters in pregnant women, the largest sub-group of subjects, were within normal range. In the whole study population, 25(OH) vitamin D was significantly correlated only to serum phosphorous level (R=0.10, P=0.013). Results of our study confirmed widespread, severe vitamin D deficiency in young Saudi women of childbearing age, who were otherwise normal with respect to various biochemical parameters.