Vitamin D Deficiency in Children Admitted to a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: This study aims to determine the frequency of vitamin D deficiency according to gender and age groups in children admitted to our hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the pediatric clinic of a tertiary care hospital in Ankara. Healthy children whose 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were measured for any reason from January 2015 to January 2020 were included in the study. The vitamin D levels of the participants were analyzed according to age, gender, and measuring season. Children were divided into 4 subgroups according to their age: infancy (0-1 years), preschool (2-5 years), school (6-11 years), and adolescence (12-18 years). Vitamin D deficiency was defined as serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations ≤20 ng/ml. Results: A total of 16321 children were included in the study. The participants detected Vitamin D deficiency in 10777 (66%). The deficiency was mostly detected during adolescence (n: 6718, 51%). This was followed by the school period (31.3%), preschool period (15.1%), and infancy (2.7%), respectively. The deficiency was mostly detected during the winter months. While vitamin D deficiency was more common in women over the age of six, no difference was found between the sexes under the age of six. Conclusions: In this study, the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in children was found to be high. Due to its role in many physiological events, urgent measures should be taken for the prevention, recognition, and treatment of vitamin D deficiency in children.