Vitamin D status in the active duty Navy military personnel: protocol for a systematic review

Abstract

IntroductionVitamin D is critical for bone health and its deficiency has been linked to increased incidence and severity of multiple diseases. Even so, vitamin D inadequacy is a major public health problem worldwide. The main source of vitamin D is endogenous cutaneous synthesis through exposure to solar ultraviolet B radiation, which is influenced by several factors, including occupational. The active duty Navy military personnel may be prone to vitamin D inadequacy, but a worldwide overview of vitamin D status in this specific population is still lacking.Methods and analysisThe CoCoPop mnemonic will be used for determining the inclusion criteria. Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed/Medline will be searched for all studies including 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations of the active duty Navy military personnel. Data extraction and quality assessment (Joanna Briggs Institute’s and Downs and Black checklists) will be performed by two reviewers and data will be synthesised in narrative, tabular and map formats.Ethics and disseminationThis study will not involve human or animal subjects and, thus, does not require ethics approval. The outcomes will be disseminated via publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal and presentation at a scientific conference.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42022287057.

High dose vitamin D supplementation decreases the risk of deficiency in male conscripts, but has no effect on physical performance—A randomized study

“…Vitamin D deficiency is very common in the military community, as shown in several publications [ 10 , 16 , 30 , 34 , 35 , 40 , 41 ]. Thus, maintaining sufficient 25(OH)D levels through adequate sun exposure, daily dietary and supplement intake is important, both among the general population and, especially, in the military community.…”

“…Thus, maintaining sufficient 25(OH)D levels through adequate sun exposure, daily dietary and supplement intake is important, both among the general population and, especially, in the military community. In the military, challenges such as special clothing, lack of natural sun exposure in submarines and shelters, skin camouflage, and high‐level physical stress during training and combat can all potentially affect 25(OH)D levels [ 16 ].…”

Vitamin D status in active duty Navy military personnel: a systematic review

“…The literature search was performed according to Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies guidelines in the Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed/Medline databases from inception to 30 June 2022 using the following search strategy: (“Vitamin D” OR “Vitamin D Deficiency” OR “25-Hydroxyvitamin D 2” OR “Cholecalciferol” OR “Ergocalciferol” OR “Calcifediol” OR “25-hydroxyvitamin D” OR “25-hydroxy vitamin D” OR “25(OH)D” OR “25OHD”) AND (“military personnel” OR “military” OR “Navy personnel” OR “sailor*” OR “marine*” OR “submariner*” OR “coast guard”) for Scopus and Web of Science databases and (“Vitamin D”(MeSH) OR “Vitamin D Deficiency”(MeSH) OR “25-Hydroxyvitamin D 2”(MeSH) OR “Cholecalciferol”(MeSH) OR “Ergocalciferols”(MeSH) OR “Calcifediol”(MeSH) OR “25-hydroxyvitamin D” OR “25-hydroxy vitamin D” OR “25(OH)D” OR “25OHD”) AND (“Military Personnel”(MeSH) OR “military” OR “Navy personnel” OR “sailor*” OR “marine*” OR “submariner*” OR “coast guard”) for the PubMed/Medline database 18 19…”