The Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency in Patients Referred to the Clinical Diagnostic Laboratories in Khuzestan Province in 2014

Background and Objective: Throughout the world, measuring serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D is used to assess serum vitamin D levels. According to this criterion, many epidemiological studies show that vitamin D deficiency is a worldwide health problem and is associated with many chronic diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate serum levels of vitamin D in Khuzestan province and remark on the need for its treating. Subjects and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 4574 participants of men and women referred to some diagnostic laboratories of Khuzestan Province in 1393. Serum level of 25(OH) vitamin D, as the most important metabolites of vitamin D, was measured by chemiluminescence method and vitamin D deficiency was defined at 25-hydroxy vitamin D level of less than 30 ng / ml. Results: Based on the statistic analysis the mean serum level of 25(OH)VitD was 21.40 ± 18.36 ng/mL 77.8% of participants were assessed as the severe to mild VitD deficiency. The VitD average for male and female were 21.45 ± 16.03 and 21.38 ± 19.00 ng / ml respectively and it was in insuficiency range for both sexes. Conclusion: In this study, it was found that despite the sunny climate of Khuzestan, the serum level of vit D is low in study parcipitants and the mean reasons for this deficiency can be due to very low intake of vitamin D through foods, fear of exposure to the sun ray, or incorrect assessments of the normal values of Vit D. ►Please cite this paper as: Mohammadi A, Mousavi Dehmurd R, Afsharmanesh MR, Ayashi S, Abdveys N, Kheirollah AR. The Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency in Patients Referred to the Clinical Diagnostic Laboratories in Khuzestan Province in 1393. Jundishapur Sci Med J 2016;15(1):63-71