risk factors for developing vitamin D deficiency in adults
Last edited 01/2022 and last reviewed 01/2022
Risk factors for developing low vitamin D levels include
- lack of sun exposure
- limited exposure to sunlight e.g. those living in the Northern Hemisphere during winter months, those who cover large areas of skin when outdoors or habitually use sun block,
- people who have darker skin, for example people of African, African-Caribbean or South Asian origin, because their bodies are not able to make as much vitamin D
- a vegan or vegetarian diet
- malabsorptive diseases and other factors
- short bowel syndrome, cholestatic liver disease
- all pregnant and breastfeeding women, especially teenagers and young women
- older people, aged 65 years and over
- use of anticonvulsants, rifampicin, cholestyramine, HAART, glucocorticoids
Vitamin D deficiency and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- men with COPD were more likely to be vitamin D deficient than those with normal lung function (3)
- vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased all-cause mortality in older men with no lung impairment as well as in those with restrictive or obstructive lung impairment.
Reference:
- NHS Coventry and Warwickshire. Brief Prescribing guide - Treatment of Vitamin D Deficiency in Adults (February 2012)
- National Osteoporosis Sociaety (NOS) 2013. Vitamin D and Bone Health: A Practical Clinical Guideline for Patient Management
- Wannamethee SG, Welsh P, Papacosta O, et al. Vitamin D deficiency, impaired lung function and total and respiratory mortality in a cohort of older men: cross-sectional and prospective findings from The British Regional Heart Study. BMJ Open 2021;11:e051560. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051560