Vitamin D Deficiency to the Age and Season of Turkish Patients Admitted to Family Medicine: A Retrospective Hospital-based Study in Istanbul

INTRODUCTION: In our study, we aimed to determine the prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency and evaluate Vitamin D levels according to age, gender, and season.
METHODS: The data of Vitamin D levels, age, and gender of persons who admitted to Istanbul Medeniyet University, Göztepe Training and Research Hospital, Department of Family Medicine between 2012 and 2017 were collected. SPSS22 was used for statistical analysis and p<0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
RESULTS: The data of 4227 patients, 80.44% women and 19.56% men, were included in the study. We found Vitamin D levels as follows: 1038≤10 ng/ mL, 1348 between 10 ng/mL and 20 ng/mL, 931 between 20 ng/mL and 30 ng/mL, 886 >30 ng/mL and 24 >150 ng/mL. Vitamin D levels were found significantly higher in autumn than winter season in the age groups 6.1–17, 18–44, 45–64, and ≥ 65 (p<0.001). We found Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency 56.45% and 78.48%, respectively. Sufficient Vitamin D levels were found in only 21.53% of subjects. About 80.9% of the participants in the winter season and 73.9% in the autumn period had Vitamin D levels below normal.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Our results show that Vitamin D deficiency is quite high in our population. As we expected, sufficient Vitamin D levels were lower in winter than the autumn due to low sun exposure. While, we found higher Vitamin D levels in women than men and Vitamin D values increased with increasing age. To increase Vitamin D levels in our society, increasing sun exposure time or Vitamin D supplementation might be considered.