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:

1. NHS Coventry and Warwickshire. Brief Prescribing guide - Treatment of Vitamin D Deficiency in Adults (February 2012)
2. National Osteoporosis Sociaety (NOS) 2013. Vitamin D and Bone Health: A Practical Clinical Guideline for Patient Management
3. 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