The Relationship Between Serum Vitamin D Level and Severity of Bronchiolitis in Infants Being Referred to in Bandar Abbas Children’s Hospital, Iran

Abstract

Background: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between the serum vitamin D level and the severity of bronchiolitis in infants. Materials and Methods: The population of this descriptive-analytical study included all infants within the age range of 1 month to 24 months old with bronchiolitis hospitalized in Bandar Abbas children’s hospital in 2018-2019. According to the exclusion and inclusion criteria, patients were entered in the study and diagnosed with bronchiolitis by a pediatric infectious disease specialist. Then, their serum levels of vitamin D were measured as well. Results: Of the 85 patients, 62.4% and 37.6% were males and females, respectively. The mean serum level of vitamin D was 29.74±13.44 ng/mL. In addition, the mean age in groups with mild-, moderate-, and severe-intensity was 9.27±4.52 months, 5.12±3.95 months, and 3.16±1.16 months (P<0.001), respectively. Further, the Spearman’s correlation between age and serum vitamin D levels was r = 0.05 (P<0.001). Based on the results, there was a statistically significant difference between the mean age in the two study groups (P<0.001). Finally, a statistically significant association was found between the severity of bronchiolitis and vitamin D status (P=0.007). Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, more than half of the infants admitted to the diagnosis of bronchiolitis had insufficient serum levels of vitamin D. There was also a significant association between the severity of bronchiolitis and serum vitamin D levels.