title: Early and severe presentation of vitamin D deficiency and nutritional rickets among hospitalized infants and the effective factors.
abstract: Nutritional rickets is re-emerging as a significant health problem among children. We determined the frequency of nutritional rickets and vitamin D deficiency among hospitalized children and the effective factors. During a one-year period, 305 hospitalized children (ages between 0 to 3 years) were evaluated for clinical and biochemical markers of vitamin D deficient rickets and related factors. Twenty-one of them (6.8%) were diagnosed as nutritional vitamin D deficiency and rickets. Most of the children diagnosed were under one year old (16/21, 76.2%). Fourteen vitamin D deficient rachitic children were admitted to the hospital with infectious conditions, and most of them were respiratory tract infection. The rachitic group was compared for statistical significance with the non-rachitic control patients for the data collected. Rachitic children had a lower rate of vitamin D intake. The frequency of malnutrition and anemia and the percentage of covered mothers were higher in the rachitic group than in the control group. Vitamin D deficiency-related rickets is still a common and serious health problem especially in the infancy period. To address this problem, a specific attention should be given to women of reproductive age and in the early infancy period. Initiation of vitamin D supplementation could be offered very early (perhaps after the birth) in children with risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tezer
authors.forename: Zeynep
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Siklar
authors.forename: Yildiz
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dallar
authors.forename: Seyda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Doğankoç
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology; D012279:Rickets / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D