title: Vitamin D levels in children diagnosed with acute otitis media.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between Vitamin D deficiency and acute otitis media infection.
  
  
  METHODS
  The randomised, single-blind, case-control study was conducted at the Paediatric Department of Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey, from January to April 2010. It comprised ambulatory children diagnosed with acute otitis media and healthy controls. The subjects were divided into groups according to their serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels. SPSS 18 was used for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 169 subjects in the study, 88(52%) were the cases and 81(48%) were controls. The mean age of the cases was 6.21±3.4 years, and 6.18±3.12 years for the controls (p<0.951). Serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels in the cases and controls were 20.6±10.2 ng/mL and 23.8±10.3 ng/mL (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of parathormone and calcium levels (p>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels being significantly lower in children diagnosed with acute otitis media compared to the controls in two otherwise similar groups suggests that Vitamin D deficiency plays a role in otitis media infection.
authors.forename: Atilla
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cayir
authors.forename: Mehmet Ibrahim
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Turan
authors.forename: Ozalkan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ozkan
authors.forename: Yasemin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cayir
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D