Biswas Koushik, Kushwaha Vivek, Singh Jitendra Kumar, Mir Altaf Ahmad
Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Raebareli, India.
Maedica (Bucur). 2024 Sep;19(3):580-586. doi: 10.26574/maedica.2024.19.3.580.
Vitamin D and B12 deficiency in older adults is associated with osteoporosis and dementia, respectively. The objective of this study is to estimate the prevalence of vitamin D and B12 deficiency among older patients, assess gender-specific differences and analyse seasonal variations in serum levels.
This is a retrospective hospital record-based study. All patients undergoing vitamin D and/or B12 estimation from October 2022 to September 2023 in the Biochemistry laboratory of AIIMS Raebareli, India, were included. Serum vitamin D and B12 assays were performed using chemiluminescence immunoassays on VITROS ECiQ Immunodiagnostic Systems. For vitamin D, ≥30 ng/mL was considered normal, 20-30 ng/mL as insufficient and <20 ng/mL as deficiency. For vitamin B12, ≥300 pg/mL was considered normal, 200-300 pg/mL as borderline and <200 pg/mL as deficiency. Statistical analysis was performed in IBM SPSSv26.
We estimated the levels of vitamin D in 1 647 older patients and those of vitamin B12 in 2 298 older patients. The prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency (20-30 ng/mL), vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/mL), borderline B12 (200-300 pg/mL) and B12 deficiency (<200 pg/mL) was seen in 31.9%, 28.9%, 17.1% and 17.1% of subjects, respectively. Female participants had significantly lower vitamin D and higher vitamin B12 levels than male subjects. Significant seasonal variations in levels of vitamins D and B12 were observed, with the lowest levels being detected in March (F=4.98, p=0.00) and August (F=2.51, p=0.04), respectively.
Older patients in North India suffer from a high burden of vitamin D and B12 deficiency. Introducing a nutritional supplementation programme for older persons and liberalisation of non-vegetarian food sales may be helpful.
老年人维生素D和B12缺乏分别与骨质疏松症和痴呆症相关。本研究的目的是估计老年患者中维生素D和B12缺乏的患病率，评估性别差异并分析血清水平的季节性变化。
这是一项基于医院回顾性记录的研究。纳入了2022年10月至2023年9月在印度勒克瑙全印医学科学研究所生物化学实验室接受维生素D和/或B12检测的所有患者。血清维生素D和B12检测采用VITROS ECiQ免疫诊断系统上的化学发光免疫分析法。对于维生素D，≥30 ng/mL被认为正常，20 - 30 ng/mL为不足，<20 ng/mL为缺乏。对于维生素B12，≥300 pg/mL被认为正常，200 - 300 pg/mL为临界值，<200 pg/mL为缺乏。在IBM SPSSv26中进行统计分析。
我们评估了1647例老年患者的维生素D水平和2298例老年患者的维生素B12水平。维生素D不足（20 - 30 ng/mL）、维生素D缺乏（<20 ng/mL）、临界B12（200 - 300 pg/mL）和B12缺乏（<200 pg/mL）的患病率分别在31.9%、28.9%、17.1%和17.1%的受试者中出现。女性参与者的维生素D水平显著低于男性，而维生素B12水平高于男性。观察到维生素D和B12水平存在显著的季节性变化，最低水平分别在3月（F = 4.98，p = 0.00）和8月（F = 2.51，p = 0.04）检测到。
印度北部的老年患者维生素D和B12缺乏负担较重。为老年人引入营养补充计划以及放宽非素食食品销售可能会有所帮助。
