Vitamin D Deficiency and Associated Risk Factors in Muslim Housewives of Quetta, Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

BackgroundVitamin D (Vit-D) plays a central role in calcium homeostasis and maintains skeletal integrity. Housewives in Quetta, Pakistan are at increased risk of vitamin D deficiency (VDD). They spend a greater part of their day in cleaning, washing, cooking, managing daily groceries, and other household chores. Thus, little time is left for self-care and outdoor activities. They wear hijab and have very little exposure to sunlight. In addition, their diet is deficient in Vit-D-rich food items, rendering them at high risk of VDD. Fear of getting tanned, melasma, and preference for a fair complexion further limit their sun exposure. This study evaluates the prevalence of VDD in housewives and determines its various risk factors to recommend screening guidelines for VDD. MethodsA cross-sectional study was performed between November 2020 and April 2021 and recruited housewives aged >18 from the outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital in Quetta. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. VDD was defined as a serum 25(OH)-D level <20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L). Sociodemographic variables and information about the dietary habits, perception, attitudes towards sunlight, and daily duration of sunlight exposure were collected. Mean and standard deviation (SD) were calculated for continuous variables and counts, and proportions were calculated for categorical variables like education, age. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the risk factors and associations of VDD. Data were analyzed by SAS/STAT software (version 9.4).

The Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on the Severity of Symptoms and the Quality of Life in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…Therefore, around one-third of the patients opt for alternative therapies [5]. Since vitamin D deficiency is a common condition [6][7][8][9] associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) [10], cancer [11], insulin resistance [12][13][14], and other chronic diseases [15], investigators have sought to identify possible associations of vitamin D deficiency with IBS. Therefore, studies have shown an improvement of IBS symptoms with the administration of vitamin D [16,17], an agent playing a critical role in calcium and phosphorous metabolism and homeostasis as well as anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities [18].…”

Burden of Vitamin D Deficiency and its Related Risk Factors in Early Pregnancy

“…10 Local data has already highlighted 58.9% housewives to have VDD while as we know the need of vitamin D is increased in the body during the pregnancy so proportion of women with VDD during pregnancy is expected to be high as shown in the present study. 11 In this study, we noted daily sunlight exposure below 1 hour (p<0.001), low socioeconomic status (p=0.002), working women (p=0.025), no usage of supplementation of vitamin D before pregnancy (p=0.044) and no use of vitamin D in the current pregnancy (p=0.001) to have significant linkage with vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency. Aji AS et al from Indonesia revealed very similar findings that 82.8% pregnant women in early pregnancy (1 st trimester) had VDD while working status, nulliparity, length of outdoor activities below 1 hour daily and no usage of supplementation prior to the pregnancy were significantly associated risk factors for VDD.…”

Vitamin D levels in patients attending a tertiary care hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia: a retrospective review of 28,125 cases

“…Another necessary explanation is that those younger ages in this study have higher vitamin D levels than older ages where the MENA region (the Middle East/Africa) generally spends more time outdoors compared with other age groups with lower vitamin D levels 13,14,18 . Vitamin D deficiency is predominant in females due to a diet lack of calcium and vitamin D intake, lack of exposure to sunlight due to indoor lifestyle of females, low education levels, and the whole body covering among Muslim women 19,20 .…”