The Relationship Between Vitamin D Levels and Severity in Illness in COVID-19 Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic hit the world badly with high mortality. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection increased the COVID-19 burden among developed and developing countries due to the unavailability of proven treatment options. Vitamin D has many important anti-inflammatory, immunomodulator, and anti-viral functions. The present study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between Vitamin D in COVID-19.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Patna, India. All the patients were enrolled during the period of 3.5 months. A chemiluminescence-based immunoassay analyzer was used to quantify Vitamin D among COVID-19 patients. The study compared Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency among different groups, i.e., age, sex, BMI, comorbidity, etc. Diabetes and hypertension were evaluated as risk factors for mortality.

Results: A total of 225 patients were investigated. Of these, 13.6% had Vitamin D deficiency and 38.9% had insufficiency. Vitamin D level was statistically significant among different age groups, sex, and smokers. Patients aged >60 years were 23 times more likely to have a severe illness (adjusted OR (aOR) 23.53, 95%CI 4.67-118.61), whereas those aged 40 to 60 years were 11 times more likely to have a severe illness (aOR 10.86, 95%CI 2.39-49.31). Patients with many comorbidities, on the other hand, had a tenfold greater chance of severe COVID-19 (aOR 9.94, 95%CI 2.47-39.88). A deficiency of vitamin D increased the chance of a serious illness by nearly five times (aOR 4.72, 95%CI 1.31-17.03).

Conclusion: Vitamin D level was associated with severity of illness; it can be used to estimate the prognosis of COIVD-19 patients and aid in the modification of treatment protocols.

Keywords: covid 19; low vitamin d; vitamin d level; vitamin d supplementation; vitamin-d deficiency.

Figure 1. Enrolment and selection of subjects in the study