Status of Common Water-Soluble Vitamins in Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Analysis with Implications for Targeted Nutritional Screening Programs.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Water-soluble vitamins are essential micronutrients requiring regular dietary replenishment due to minimal body storage capacity. Medical students.; despite their health knowledge, may be at risk for subclinical deficiencies due to academic stress and life-style factors. This study assessed water-soluble vitamin status to evaluate screening needs in this educated population.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 91 healthy medical students (age 18-23 years) at UAE University from September 2023 to January 2024. Serum levels of folate (B9), cobalamin (B12), and ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) were measured using validated high-performance chemiluminescent immunoassays. Demographic, anthropometric, dietary, and lifestyle data were collected via structured questionnaires. Statistical analyses included multivariate logistic regres-sion, correlation analyses, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.

RESULTS

Among the participants (70.3% female; mean age 19.8 ± 1.4 years; BMI 23.2 ± 2.9 kg/m), vita-min C showed the highest prevalence of suboptimal levels at 7.7% (7/91 participants), comprising 2.2% with deficiency (<28 µmol/L, = 2) and 5.5% with insufficiency (28-40 µmol/L, = 5). Mean vitamin C was 56.7 ± 14.8 µmol/L. Vitamin B12 insufficiency (200-300 pg/mL) affected 9.0% (8/89) of students, with a mean of 485.3 ± 165.0 pg/mL. A non-significant trend toward higher insufficiency rates was observed among female students. No deficiencies were observed for folate (mean 14.1 ± 4.9 ng/mL). Multivariate analysis identified low fruit/vegetable intake (OR 4.8; 95% CI: 1.3-17.6; = 0.018); high stress scores (OR 3.2; 95% CI: 1.1-9.4; p = 0.033); and female gender (OR 2.9; 95% CI: 0.9-9.1; = 0.071) as predictors of suboptimal vitamin C. Vitamin C levels correlated positively with dietary quality (r = 0.412; < 0.001) and negatively with stress scores (r = -0.241; = 0.031). Despite being a health-educated population, nearly 10% of medical students demonstrated suboptimal water-soluble vitamin levels, particularly vitamins C and B12.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings support implementing targeted screening programs focusing on high-risk groups, including students with poor dietary habits, high stress levels, or specific gender-based risks.