Background As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to escalate, it is important to identify the prognostic factors related to increased mortality and disease severity. To assess the possible associations of vitamin D level with disease severity and survival, we studied 248 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in a single center in a prospective observational study from October 2020 to May 2021 in Tehran, Iran.
Methods Patients who had a record of their 25-hydroxyvitamin D level measured in the previous year before testing positive with COVID-19 were included. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was measured upon admission in COVID-19 patients. The associations between clinical outcomes of patients and 25-hydroxyvitamin D level were assessed by adjusting for potential confounders and estimating a multivariate logistic regression model.
Results The median (interquartile range) age of patients was 60 years (44–74 years), and 53% were male. The median serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level prior to admission decreased with increasing COVID-19 severity (P=0.009). Similar findings were obtained when comparing median serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D on admission between moderate and severe patients (P=0.014). A univariate logistic regression model showed that vitamin D deficiency prior to COVID-19 was associated with a significant increase in the odds of mortality (odds ratio, 2.01; P=0.041). The Multivariate Cox model showed that vitamin D deficiency on admission was associated with a significant increase in risk for mortality (hazard ratio, 2.35; P=0.019).
Conclusions Based on our results, it is likely that deficient vitamin D status is associated with increased mortality in COVID-19 patients. Thus, evaluating vitamin D level in COVID-19 patients is warranted.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
The close association of micronutrients with COVID-19 Aimin Zhang, Yue Yin, Jiashu Tian, Xialin Wang, Zhihong Yue, Lin Pei, Li Liu, Li Qin, Mei Jia, Hui Wang, Qingwei Ma, Wei-bo Gao, Lin-Lin Cao Heliyon.2024; 10(7): e28629. CrossRef
The bounds of meta-analytics and an alternative method Ramalingam Shanmugam, Mohammad Tabatabai, Derek Wilus, Karan P Singh Epidemiology and Health.2024; : e2024016. CrossRef
Systematic Mendelian randomization study of the effect of gut microbiome and plasma metabolome on severe COVID-19 Han Yan, Si Zhao, Han-Xue Huang, Pan Xie, Xin-He Cai, Yun-Dan Qu, Wei Zhang, Jian-Quan Luo, Longbo Zhang, Xi Li Frontiers in Immunology.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Risk Factors Associated with Severity and Death from COVID-19 in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Study Ahmad Mehri, Sahar Sotoodeh Ghorbani, Kosar Farhadi-Babadi, Elham Rahimi, Zahra Barati, Niloufar Taherpour, Neda Izadi, Fatemeh Shahbazi, Yaser Mokhayeri, Arash Seifi, Saeid Fallah, Rezvan Feyzi, Koorosh Etemed, Seyed Saeed Hashemi Nazari Journal of Intensive Care Medicine.2023; 38(9): 825. CrossRef
Vitamin D: A Role Also in Long COVID-19? Luigi Barrea, Ludovica Verde, William B. Grant, Evelyn Frias-Toral, Gerardo Sarno, Claudia Vetrani, Florencia Ceriani, Eloisa Garcia-Velasquez, José Contreras-Briceño, Silvia Savastano, Annamaria Colao, Giovanna Muscogiuri Nutrients.2022; 14(8): 1625. CrossRef