title: Widespread vitamin D deficiency among Indian health care professionals.
abstract: Information on vitamin D status of Indian health care professionals is limited. Among 2,119 subjects studied, just 6 % were found to be sufficient in vitamin D status. There is urgent need of an integrated approach to detect and treat vitamin D deficiency among health care professionals to improve on-the-job productivity.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent worldwide. India has been reported to be one of the worst affected countries. Several single-center studies from India have shown high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. Little is known regarding the vitamin D status of Indian health care professionals.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to determine prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among health care professionals in different regions of India.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional, multicenter study, we enrolled 2,119 medical and paramedical personnel from 18 Indian cities. Blood samples were collected from December 2010 to March 2011 and analyzed in a central laboratory by radioimmunoassay. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] <20 ng/mL or <50 nmol/L, insufficiency as 25(OH)D = 20-30 ng/mL or 50-75 nmol/L, and sufficiency as 25(OH)D >30 ng/mL or >75 nmol/L.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean (±SD) age of subjects was 42.71 ± 6.8 years. Mean (±SD) 25(OH)D level was 14.35 ± 10.62 ng/mL (median 11.93 ng/mL). Seventy-nine percent of subjects were deficient, 15 % were insufficient, and just 6 % were sufficient in vitamin D status. No significant difference was found between vitamin D status in southern (25(OH)D = 13.3 ± 6.4 ng/mL) and northern (25(OH)D = 14.4 ± 8.5 ng/mL) parts of India.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study confirms the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency all across India in apparently healthy, middle-aged health care professionals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Medanta the Medicity, Gurgaon, Haryana, India.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beloyartseva
authors.forename: Ambrish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mithal
authors.forename: Parjeet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kaur
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kalra
authors.forename: Manash P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Baruah
authors.forename: Satinath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mukhopadhyay
authors.forename: Ganapathy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bantwal
authors.forename: Tushar R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Bandgar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000488:Allied Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006281:Health Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000453:epidemiology*