Vitamin D deficiency in northern Taiwan: a community-based cohort study

Abstract

BackgroundVitamin D deficiency has become an important public health problem, however few studies have been conducted in subtropical countries, and the predictors of vitamin D deficiency in people with healthy renal function are unclear. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with vitamin D deficiency in northern Taiwan.MethodsThe cross-sectional study was performed between August 2013 and August 2017, and included 3954 participants without chronic kidney disease (CKD) aged ≥30 years in northern Taiwan. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)-D] levels, biochemistry, sociodemographic variables (age, sex, education, occupation) and lifestyle habits (tea, coffee consumption and physical activities) were recorded. Associations between vitamin D status and these variables were examined using a regression model. The definition of deficiency was defined as a serum 25(OH)-D level < 20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L).ResultsThe mean 25(OH)-D concentration was 28.9 ng/mL, and 22.4% of the study population had vitamin D deficiency. There was a significantly higher vitamin D deficiency ratio in the women compared to the men (22.9% vs 9.9%, p < 0.001). Vitamin D deficiency was most prevalent (38.4%) in those aged 30–39 years. Those with a graduate degree had the highest rate of vitamin D deficiency (31.5%). The predictors of vitamin D deficiency included female sex, young age, high education level, living in an urban area and physical inactivity. Tea consumption was negatively associated with vitamin D deficiency.ConclusionsVitamin D deficiency is prevalent in subtropical areas such as northern Taiwan in healthy individuals without CKD.

Genome-wide association study identifies 143 loci associated with 25 hydroxyvitamin D concentration

“…Of interest, we found evidence that higher intelligence and an increased risk of several psychiatric disorders may cause reduced 25OHD concentrations. With respect to intelligence, this would be consistent with previous links between intelligence and years of education leading to working indoors, and subsequent lower concentrations of 25OHD 60,61 . One of our motivations for undertaking this study was to investigate the hypothesis of a causality 16 relationship between 25OHD and psychiatric disorders 62 .…”

Vitamin D status among postmenopausal osteoporotic women: a hospital based cross-sectional study from Northern Sri Lanka.

“…Young women tend to spend more time indoors with their occupation while a traditional house wife in Jaffna and the elderly could have spent more time outdoors. This finding was comparable to some previous studies (19,20) and further a study in Thailand showed young people may use more sunscreen because of cosmetic reasons (19), however this practice was not observed in this study as only two participants ( (24).…”

Determination of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D status among population in southern China by a high accuracy LC-MS/MS method traced to reference measurement procedure

“…However, several studies have shown that there is a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in many countries around the world [4,5]. Ming-Jse Lee et al reported that 22.4% of the northern Taiwan population had a vitamin D deficiency [6]. Akhtar et al concluded that vitamin D deficiency was highly prevalent among the South Asian population, including that of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka [7].…”

“…Silvia Giulianil found that approximately 30% of the population had a deficient 25(OH)D concentration in a large Southern European population [8]. Reports on the vitamin D status in Chinese populations come from Hong Kong, Taiwan and northeastern China populations [6,9,10], but there are few studies on the current status of vitamin D in South Chinese individuals, who have a different diet, lifestyle and climate than those of northeastern China populations.…”