The association between anemia and hypovitaminosis D

Abstract

Background Hypovitaminosis D (deficiency and insufficiency) and anemia are both known as major public health concerns globally. A suboptimal level of vitamin D has been suggested to be a potential trigger player for reduced hemoglobin levels, thus increasing the risk of anemia. Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D and anemia, as well as the relationship between the two. Patients and methods Demographic and laboratory data were collected and analyzed (Pearson’s correlation and multivariate logistic regressions) using IBM Statistical Package for SPSS, and graphical data visualization was performed using the R programming language and R-based Rstudio. Results The overall prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 75% (n=302), whereas insufficiency and sufficiency were 19.7 and 4.5%, respectively. Vitamin D deficiency was most prevalent in the 30–49-year age group (n=155, 81%), whereas it was least prevalent in the 50–69-year age group (n=63, 65%). A significant positive Pearson’s correlation was found between vitamin D concentration and hemoglobin at the 0.05 level (r=0.133 and P=0.05) and between vitamin D concentration and the patient’s age in years at the 0.01 level (r=0.157 and P=0.01). Anemia was found to be prevalent in 36% of the population. Normocytic anemia was the most prevalent type, followed by microcytic anemia. Conclusion The role of hypovitaminosis D as a risk factor for anemia is unknown, and thus multiple longitudinal and interventional studies are recommended to establish an association between vitamin D deficiency and anemia.