Epidemiology and determinants of vitamin D deficiency in Eastern Nepal: a community-based, cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectiveTo estimate the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Eastern part of Nepal and identify the sociodemographic factors associated with it.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 324 participants between the ages of 18 to 80 years from Sunsari and Morang districts of Nepal. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to obtain sociodemographic variables followed by anthropometric measurements and blood sampling. 25(OH)D level was measured by Chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) technique via a fully automated Maglumi 1000 analyzer (SNIBE Co, Ltd, China). Serum 25(OH)D was classified as deficient, insufficient and sufficient (<20 ng/ml, 20-29 ng/ml and 30–100 ng/ml respectively). Chi square test was used to analyze the sociodemographic variables. Significant variables were subject to multivariate logistic regression.Result181(55.9%) of the study population had vitamin D deficiency. There was significant association between vitamin D status and gender (Chi-sq = 6.2, p=0.04), education (Chi-sq = 14.4, p=0.02), skin colour (Chi-sq = 17.9, p=0.001), sun exposure (Chi-sq = 11.1, p=0.02), duration of sun exposure (Chi-sq = 15.1, p=0.004), type of meat intake (Fischer’s exact test is 16.4, p=0.01), frequency of fish intake (Fischer’s exact test is 19.3, p=0.001), frequency of dairy intake (Chi-sq=11.2, p=0.02). In multivariate regression, OR (95% CI) for vitamin D deficiency was significantly higher in women than men [3.0(1.3-7.0) p:0.008], education level up to primary school had lower OR(95% CI) [0.1(0.03-0.4) p:0.001] than higher education. Consumption of dairy products ≥3/week had lower OR(95% CI) [0.1(0.06-0.5) p:0.003.] Weekly fish consumption had lower OR(95% CI) [0.04(0.004-0.4) p: 0.007].ConclusionThe prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was high in women of eastern Nepal.