title: Defining Vitamin D Deficiency and Its Relationship to Hypertension in Postmenopausal Korean Women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Inconsistent results regarding the association between low vitamin D level and hypertension (HTN) have led to uncertainty in clinical practice as to the use of vitamin D cutoff value. The aims of this study were to investigate the association between vitamin D deficiency and HTN in postmenopausal women and to determine the clinically significant cutoff value for vitamin D deficiency.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 5 database (4107 postmenopausal women, aged 50-79 years). The cutoff value for vitamin D deficiency was based on the changes in parathyroid hormone (PTH) level according to serum 25(OH)D value.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PTH levels were significantly higher in groups with serum 25(OH)D <15 ng/mL (p < 0.001). When a serum 25(OH)D value of 15 ng/mL was used as a cutoff value, 35.2% of the subjects were found to be vitamin D deficient. Although the association between 25(OH)D level <15 ng/mL and systolic blood pressure did not remain significant after adjusting for season (p = 0.30), multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that 25(OH)D level <15 ng/mL was an independent risk factor for HTN (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.285, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.024-1.614, p = 0.031).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Using serum PTH level, we defined vitamin D deficiency as 25(OH)D <15 ng/mL in postmenopausal women. Vitamin D deficiency [25(OH)D <15 ng/mL] was a significant risk factor for HTN in postmenopausal women.
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University Guri Hospital , Guri, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong-Hun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: 2 Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University Medical Center , Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyung Tak
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: 2 Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University Medical Center , Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Hyo
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: 1 Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University Guri Hospital , Guri, Korea.
authors.forename: Hwan-Cheol
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: 2 Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University Medical Center , Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jinho
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: 2 Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University Medical Center , Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung-Soo
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: 2 Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University Medical Center , Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin-Kyu
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000097:blood*; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D010281:Parathyroid Hormone; D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D