Vitamin D status and determinants of deficiency among non-pregnant Jordanian women of reproductive age

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: E.K. Nichols, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; I.M.D. Khatib, Jordan University of Science & Technology; Nancy Aburto, Emory University; K.M. Sullivan, Emory University; K.S. Scanlon, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; J.P. Wirth, Global Alliance Improved Nutrition; M.K. Serdula, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Language: English
• Date: 2012-06-01
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2012.25
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
• Volume: 66
• Issue: 6
• Start Page: 751
• End Page: 756
• Grant/Funding Information: The current survey was funded through a grant agreement between the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the Government of Jordan Ministry of Health and through a Memorandum of Understanding between GAIN and CDC.
• Keywords: women; Science & Technology; Nutrition & Dietetics; deficiency; Sunglight; American; Skin; vitamin D; Life-style; Health; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; High prevalence; Capacity; Jordan; Population; Childbearing age
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Health Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology; Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Health Sciences, Nutrition

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Vitamin D deficiency, a risk factor for osteomalacia and osteoporosis, is a re-emerging health problem globally. While sunlight is an important vitamin D source, previous investigations among women whose culture encourages skin covering have been small, not nationally representative, or both. We investigated serum 25–hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D3) status and factors associated with deficiency in a nationally representative survey of 2013 Jordanian women of reproductive age in Spring 2010. SUBJECTS/METHODS: We measured 25(OH)D3 concentrations by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and calculated prevalence ratios for deficiency associated with skin covering and other factors. RESULTS: Results showed 60.3% (95% CI: 57.1–63.4%) deficiency (<12 ng/ml) and 95.7% (95% CI: 94.4–96.8%) insufficiency (<20 ng/ml) among women. Prevalence of deficiency was 1.60 times higher for women who covered with a scarf/hijab (95% CI: 1.06–2.40, P = 0.024) and 1.87 times higher for women who wore full cover, or a niqab (95% CI: 1.20–2.93, P = 0.006), compared with the women who did not wear a scarf/hijab or niqab. Compared with rural women completing at least secondary education, prevalence of deficiency was 1.30 times higher for urban women of the same education level (95% CI: 1.08–1.57, P = 0.006), 1.18 times higher for urban women completing less than secondary education (95% CI: 0.98–1.43, P = 0.09), and 0.66 times lower for rural women completing less than secondary education (95% CI: 0.52–0.84, P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency pose significant public health problems in Jordanian women. Prevalence of deficiency is significantly higher among urban women and among women who cover with a scarf/hijab or niqab.