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| LETTER TO EDITOR |
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| Year : 2022 | Volume
: 10
| Issue : 3 | Page : 58 |
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Epidemiological study of Vitamin D deficiency among Libyan patients
Mahmood Dhahir Al-Mendalawi
Department of Paediatrics, Al-Kindy College of Medicine, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
| Date of Submission | 11-Feb-2022 |
| Date of Decision | 10-Mar-2022 |
| Date of Acceptance | 13-Apr-2022 |
| Date of Web Publication | 28-Jul-2022 |
Correspondence Address:
Mahmood Dhahir Al-Mendalawi
P. O. Box 55302, Baghdad Post Office, Baghdad
Iraq
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.4103/mjhs.mjhs_2_22
How to cite this article:
Al-Mendalawi MD. Epidemiological study of Vitamin D deficiency among Libyan patients. MRIMS J Health Sci 2022;10:58 |
Sir,
In January–March 2022 issue of the MRIMS Journal of Health Sciences, Atia and Arhoma[1] studied the prevalence of Vitamin D (VD) deficiency among Libyan patients. They found that the mean value of VD among females (19.8 ± 2 nmol/L) was significantly lower than males (25.7 ± 3 nmol/L). The mean value of VD was significantly lower in the age group of 41–64 years and more than 64 years of age compared to 1–40 years of age (P < 0.05).[1] Atia and Arhoma[1] mentioned two study limitations, namely the limited number of patients in the studied cohort and not considering the seasonal effect on VD levels. We believe that the following limitation is relevant. The reference data (RD) of serum VD levels are determined by different factors such as age, gender, race, season, dietary styles, skin color, and sunlight exposure.[2] Based on these factors, certain population-based RD of serum VD levels have been constructed to apply in clinical fields and research.[3],[4],[5] In the study methodology, Atia and Arhoma[1] stated that VD status was evaluated according to the following cutoff values of serum VD levels; deficient (<30 nmol/L), inadequate (30–50 nmol/L), and sufficient (>50 nmol/L). However, they did not state the reference of their employed cutoff values of serum VD levels. Hence, that methodological limitation might further query the rightness of the study results.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
| References | |  |
| 1. | Atia A, Arhoma S. Epidemiological study of Vitamin D deficiency among Libyan patients. MRIMS J Health Sci 2022;10:14-7.  [Full text] |
| 2. | Mithal A, Wahl DA, Bonjour JP, Burckhardt P, Dawson-Hughes B, Eisman JA, et al. Global Vitamin D status and determinants of hypovitaminosis D. Osteoporos Int 2009;20:1807-20. |
| 3. | AlQuaiz AM, Mujammami M, Kazi A, Hasanato RM, Alodhayani A, Shaik SA, et al. Vitamin D cutoff point in relation to parathyroid hormone: A population based study in Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia. Arch Osteoporos 2019;14:22. |
| 4. | Hu Y, Li S, Liu Z, Yang X, Yang L. Exploring study on the cutoff of Vitamin D deficiency in Chinese adults. Wei Sheng Yan Jiu 2020;49:699-704. |
| 5. | Qorbani M, Mahdavi Gorabi A, Ejtahed HS, Namazi N, Khoramdad M, Heshmat R, et al. Percentile values for serum levels of Vitamins A and D in Iranian children and adolescents: The CASPIAN-V study. Nutrition 2021;90:111307. |
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