Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Jan-Apr;25(1):1-4.
doi: 10.4103/jfcm.JFCM_73_17.

Vitamin D deficiency in Saudi Arabians: A reality or simply hype: A meta-analysis (2008-2015)

Haneen Al-Alyani  1 , Haifa A Al-Turki  2 , Omar N Al-Essa  3 , Fawaz M Alani  3 , Mir Sadat-Ali  3
Affiliations
Review

Vitamin D deficiency in Saudi Arabians: A reality or simply hype: A meta-analysis (2008-2015)

Haneen Al-Alyani et al. J Family Community Med. 2018 Jan-Apr.

Abstract

Background and objective: The objective of this systematic review was to determine from published data the prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency in the Saudi population.

Methods: An extensive and meticulous search was conducted for studies published in MEDLINE, EMBASE the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2008-2015), and the Science Citation Index published data from the Annals of Saudi Medicine and Saudi Medical Journal with the key words: Vitamin D deficiency, insufficiency, and Saudi Arabians. The inclusion criterion was studies published during 2008 to 2015, and studies involving healthy individuals between the age of 18 and 80 years. Binary random- effect model was used to estimate pooled Vitamin D deficiency. Prevalence rates along with overall estimate were presented by forest plot. Heterogeneity test was used to assess the significance of heterogeneity among studies.

Results: The authors identified 26 potentially relevant articles, 16 of which met the inclusion criteria. A total of 20,787 patients were analyzed. Sixty-two percent (12,959) were females, and the rest were males. The overall Vitamin D deficiency was 63.5% (95% CI: 53.3, 73.7).

Conclusions: The currently available literature on the Saudi Arabian population suggests that the Vitamin D deficiency is around 60% and not 100% as indicated in some studies. The relatively small number of studies on the population and the different modes of diagnostic methodology used make the issue of correct figures of Vitamin D deficiency contentious.

Keywords: Deficiency; Saudi Arabia; Vitamin D; insufficiency; meta-analysis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Regions of Saudi Arabia from where studies were published
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plot of vitamin D deficiency prevalence
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Jamil NA, Gray SR, Fraser WD, Fielding S, Macdonald HM. The relationship between Vitamin D status and muscle strength in young healthy adults from sunny climate countries currently living in the Northeast of Scotland. Osteoporos Int. 2017;28:1433–43. - PubMed
    1. Bhattoa HP, Konstantynowicz J, Laszcz N, Wojcik M, Pludowski P. Vitamin D: Musculoskeletal health. Rev Endocr Metab Disord. 2017;18:363–71. - PubMed
    1. Manson JE, Mayne ST, Clinton SK. Vitamin D and prevention of cancer – Ready for prime time? N Engl J Med. 2011;364:1385–7. - PubMed
    1. Zhang X, Harbeck N, Jeschke U, Doisneau-Sixou S. Influence of Vitamin D signaling on hormone receptor status and HER2 expression in breast cancer. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2017;143:1107–22. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Narvaez CJ, Matthews D, LaPorta E, Simmons KM, Beaudin S, Welsh J, et al. The impact of Vitamin D in breast cancer: Genomics, pathways, metabolism. Front Physiol. 2014;5:213. - PMC - PubMed