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. 2023 Aug 6;15(8):e43012.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.43012. eCollection 2023 Aug.

Vitamin D Deficiency and Its Association With Cardiovascular Diseases Among Patients Attending a Private Tertiary Sector Cardiovascular Heart Clinic in Nairobi

Yubrine M Gachemba  1 , Zahid Khan  2   3   4   5 , Elijan Njau  1 , Martin Wanyoike  1
Affiliations

Vitamin D Deficiency and Its Association With Cardiovascular Diseases Among Patients Attending a Private Tertiary Sector Cardiovascular Heart Clinic in Nairobi

Yubrine M Gachemba et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Background: Vitamin D deficiency is a common condition that affects approximately 30-50% of the worldwide population. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of cardiometabolic diseases and is considered a cardiovascular risk factor globally. Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study that aimed to identify the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its associations with the cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk profile of patients presenting for cardiac evaluation at Primecare Heart Clinic, a private heart clinic in Nairobi, Kenya, between January 1, 2020 and January 31, 2022.

Results: Females with vitamin D deficiency composed 58.87% of the study participants. The average 10-year Framingham CVD risk level of the vitamin D-deficient participants was 7.09%. Participants with vitamin D deficiency that were older and had low serum high-density lipoprotein C (HDL-C) levels and high systolic blood pressure (BP) had a higher risk of CVDs. Male participants were at five times higher risk of CVDs. Vitamin D-deficient patients who were older and had a low HDL cholesterol level and high systolic BP are at a high risk of CVDs. The two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test value was 345.6992, and the p-value was 0.002884.

Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that a low level of vitamin D was associated with a higher Framingham cardiovascular risk score and cardiovascular risk in patients. Nonetheless, this is a retrospective study, which is a major limitation of this study.

Keywords: awareness of cardiovascular diseases; cardiometabolic diseases; cardiovascular disease and vitamin d deficiency; cardiovascular disease prevention; framingham cardiovascular risk score; high-density lipoprotein; kenyatta national hospital; retrospective cross-sectional study; risk factors of cardiovascular diseases; vitamin d deficiency.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Vitamin D deficiency and gender
Figure 2
Figure 2. Vitamin D deficiency and the use of antihypertensive medications
Figure 3
Figure 3. Vitamin D deficiency and smoking status
Figure 4
Figure 4. Vitamin D deficiency and cardiovascular risk
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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