Prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency in patients with acute exacerbations of bronchial asthma: A one-year hospital-based cross-sectional study

2019 
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Bronchial asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases. In India, bronchial asthma has 66% frequency of reported exacerbations. Vitamin D has action on pro-inflammatory mediators and smooth muscle function and proliferation, which has a direct relevance for lung function in asthma. This study was done to investigate the prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency in patients presenting with asthma exacerbations and to assess the correlation between decreased levels and various indicators of severity of exacerbations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 118 participants of whom 93 patients had acute exacerbations of bronchial asthma were included in this study. Vitamin D levels were analyzed among different subgroups based on asthma control, severity, and severity of exacerbations. Vitamin D levels were correlated to forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)% predicted, body mass index (BMI), steroid use, and number of exacerbations in the previous 1 year. RESULTS: Prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency was 88.2%. Mean Vitamin D (± standard deviation [SD]) level was 12.50 ± 6.41 ng/ml, which was lower than that of patients in remissions (30.61 ± 4.00 ng/ml). Mean FEV1% predicted (±SD) was 54.06% ±15.39%. Patients with severe asthma and uncontrolled asthma had the lowest Vitamin D levels compared to the other subgroups (P CONCLUSION: Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in patients during exacerbations of bronchial asthma. It is also associated with lower lung functions and increased number of exacerbations. Thus, improving Vitamin D status might be effective in the prevention and treatment of bronchial asthma and exacerbations.
    • Correction
    • Source
    • Cite
    • Save
    • Machine Reading By IdeaReader
    0
    References
    0
    Citations
    NaN
    KQI
    []