title: Vitamin D status and monitoring in female veterans.
abstract: An increasing number of women are serving in the military. We initiated a retrospective study to evaluate vitamin D status and monitoring in female veterans, and to examine the potential link between vitamin D status, age, race, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), health care costs, and utilization. Approximately 44 percent of the 3,608 female veterans evaluated between 2001 and 2010 were vitamin D deficient (25(OH)D < 20 ng/ml), a rate substantially higher than that of the general population. While younger (<55 years) and older (55+ years) women did not differ significantly in initial vitamin D status, older women had significantly more vitamin D monitoring and follow-up testing than younger women. Approximately 44 percent of vitamin D deficient women did not receive follow-up vitamin D testing. Minority female veterans were most likely to be vitamin D deficient. Female veterans with PTSD did not differ from others regarding their initial vitamin D status; those that were initially deficient were significantly more likely to receive follow-up testing and were more likely to achieve a replete state. Vitamin D deficiency in female veterans was also associated with increased health-care costs. Appropriate monitoring and replacement of vitamin D should be offered to all female veterans.
authors: a Department of Internal Medicine, James H. Quillen College of Medicine , East Tennessee State University , Johnson City , Tennessee , USA.
authors: Ahmad
authors: A
authors: Alazzeh
authors: Maria M
authors: MM
authors: Cooper
authors: Beth
authors: B
authors: Bailey
authors: Dima A
authors: DA
authors: Youssef
authors: Todd
authors: T
authors: Manning
authors: Alan N
authors: AN
authors: Peiris
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000517:prevention & control; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology; D013714:Tennessee / Q000453:epidemiology; D014728:Veterans; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D
keywords: age; ethnic; monitoring; post-traumatic stress disorder; veterans; vitamin D; women