Department of Health Sciences, College of Natural and Health Sciences, Zayed University, Dubai P.O. Box 19282, United Arab Emirates.
Department of Health Sciences, College of Natural and Health Sciences, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 144534, United Arab Emirates.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 10;20(2):1252. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20021252.
Vitamin D deficiency is a significant public health issue as it affects almost 90% of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) population. A bigger portion of this percentage is women due to the physiological changes throughout their life cycle. This study aims to assess the knowledge about vitamin D among women in the UAE. This is a quantitative cross-sectional study. Using snowball sampling, an electronic questionnaire was sent to women aged 18 years and above. Overall, 1537 women completed the questionnaire. The participants had mean scores of 49.4 ± 10.7 and 59.6 ± 14.6 for general and nutritional knowledge, respectively. Factors associated with higher scores included older age, marriage, higher educational level, and having tested their vitamin D levels. Factors associated with lower scores included the history of a chronic illness and being employed. Findings indicate that women in this study showed a low level of vitamin D knowledge specifically regarding the non-skeletal benefits of vitamin D and factors that affect vitamin D synthesis. Therefore, health education and promotion programs must be implemented across the UAE to improve overall awareness about vitamin D.
维生素 D 缺乏是一个重大的公共卫生问题，因为它影响了阿联酋（UAE）近 90%的人口。由于女性在整个生命周期中经历了生理变化，因此这个百分比中有更大一部分是女性。本研究旨在评估阿联酋女性对维生素 D 的认识。这是一项定量的横断面研究。研究采用雪球抽样法，向年龄在 18 岁及以上的女性发送了电子问卷。共有 1537 名女性完成了问卷。参与者的一般知识和营养知识平均得分分别为 49.4±10.7 和 59.6±14.6。与较高分数相关的因素包括年龄较大、已婚、较高的教育水平以及检测过维生素 D 水平。与较低分数相关的因素包括慢性病史和就业。研究结果表明，该研究中的女性对维生素 D 的知识水平较低，特别是对维生素 D 的非骨骼益处和影响维生素 D 合成的因素了解较少。因此，必须在整个阿联酋实施健康教育和宣传计划，以提高人们对维生素 D 的整体认识。
