Vitamin D Status: A Different Story in the Very Young versus the Very Old Romanian Patients

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 10; no. 5; p. e0128010
• Main Authors: Chirita-Emandi, Adela, Socolov, Demetra, Haivas, Carmen, Calapiș, Anca, Gheorghiu, Cristina, Puiu, Maria
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 29.05.2015; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: 25-Hydroxyvitamin D; 25-Hydroxyvitamin D 2 - blood; Adolescent; Adult; Age; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Calcifediol - blood; Calcium - blood; Cancer; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Chromatography; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data collection; Demographic aspects; Endocrinology; Epidemiology; Female; Females; High performance liquid chromatography; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infants; Laboratories; Liquid chromatography; Male; Males; Medicine; Metabolism; Middle Aged; Older people; Parathyroid Hormone - blood; Pharmacy; Physiological aspects; Population; Public health; Risk factors; Romania - epidemiology; Seasons; Supplements; Teenagers; Territory; Vitamin D; Vitamin D - blood; Vitamin D deficiency; Vitamin D Deficiency - epidemiology; Vitamin deficiency; Womens health; Young Adult; Romania
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0128010

In Romania (latitude 48°15'N to 43°40'N), vitamin D supplementation is common practice mostly in infants 0-1 year old. No published information is available regarding epidemiological data on vitamin D status in the Romanian population for a wide age range and geographical territory. In this context, we aimed to evaluate the seasonal and age variation of vitamin D status in a large Romanian population. 6631 individuals from across Romania had performed 7544 vitamin D assessments (2012-2014) in a chain of private laboratories. Vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D2 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3) was measured using High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Vitamin D levels were classified as severe deficiency<10 ng/mL, deficiency 10-20 ng/mL, insufficiency 21-29 ng/mL, sufficiency ≥ 30 ng/mL and potentially harmful>100 ng/ml. Male to female ratio was 1:2.9. Age ranged from 0 to 85 years. Mean vitamin D levels increased from April (26.3n g/ml) to September (35.6 ng/ml) and decreased from October (33.5 ng/ml) to March (24.4 ng/ml). Overall 40% had sufficient vitamin D, while the rest were insufficient 33%, deficient 22%, severely deficient 4% and 1% potentially harmful (of them 81% under 1 year old). Males compared to females showed higher percentages of sufficiency (47% vs. 38%). Children 0- 2 years presented the highest percentage of vitamin D sufficiency (77%). Lowest percentages (21%) of sufficiency were in people 80-84 years. In Romania, suboptimal vitamin D levels are common (59%), especially in older age, wintertime and in women. Vitamin D supplementation would be most warranted from January to April in the Romanian population. 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels > 100 ng/ml were relatively prevalent in children 0-1 year old (17.3%). This was attributed to supplementation errors and the fact that high-risk individuals were more likely to visit for medical check-up. Nonetheless, it stresses the need to increase awareness of the importance of preventing Vitamin D supplementation administration errors in the young.