Does vitamin D serum level affect prognosis of COVID-19 patients?
Maryam Nasiri, Javad Khodadadi, Sedigheh Molaei
International Journal of Infectious Diseases, doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2021.04.083
Background: Since the beginning of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic there have been contradictions and speculations about the relationship between vitamin D and COVID-19. Given that there is an association between vitamin D deficiency and some diseasesincluding cancer, autoimmune disease and some infectious diseasesa higher incidence and mortality rate in the vitamin-D-deficient COVID-19 population was not a surprise; conversely, some research would argue this relationship. Considering these contradictions, this study aimed to determine the relationship between prognosis and vitamin D level in cases with COVID-19. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 329 confirmed cases of COVID-19who were admitted to Kamkar-ArabNia Hospital in Qom city, Iran from March-July 2020were categorized into three groups according to vitamin D serum levels (ng/ml): sufficient (>30), insufficient (20-30) and deficient (<20). Prognosis was determined across the groups. Results: There was a significant difference in hospital stay between patients with sufficient and insufficient vitamin D levels (P = 0.007). Adjusting vitamin D levels for confounding variables, linear regression underscored significant differences in the association between length of hospitalization and lower vitamin D levels, with a longer stay noted in insufficient groups (P = 0.002). However, there was no significant difference in the time interval to return to normal oxygen level (from SpO2 < 93%) or death rate between groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: There was a significant association between hospital stay and lower serum vitamin D levels. However, the relationship between vitamin D status and death rate or the time interval to return to normal oxygen levels was not significant.
Authors' contributions All of the authors contributed to all parts of this study.
Conflict of interest There are no conflicts of interest to declare.
Ethical approval and consent to participate This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Qom University of Medical Sciences (IR.MUQ.REC.1399.058).
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