Vitamin D status in the active duty Navy military personnel: protocol for a systematic review

Abstract

IntroductionVitamin D is critical for bone health and its deficiency has been linked to increased incidence and severity of multiple diseases. Even so, vitamin D inadequacy is a major public health problem worldwide. The main source of vitamin D is endogenous cutaneous synthesis through exposure to solar ultraviolet B radiation, which is influenced by several factors, including occupational. The active duty Navy military personnel may be prone to vitamin D inadequacy, but a worldwide overview of vitamin D status in this specific population is still lacking.Methods and analysisThe CoCoPop mnemonic will be used for determining the inclusion criteria. Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed/Medline will be searched for all studies including 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations of the active duty Navy military personnel. Data extraction and quality assessment (Joanna Briggs Institute’s and Downs and Black checklists) will be performed by two reviewers and data will be synthesised in narrative, tabular and map formats.Ethics and disseminationThis study will not involve human or animal subjects and, thus, does not require ethics approval. The outcomes will be disseminated via publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal and presentation at a scientific conference.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42022287057.