• Afzal Azim, Armin Ahmed, Subhash Yadav, Arvind K Baronia, Mohan Gurjar, Madan M Godbole, Banani Poddar, and Ratender K Singh.
• Department of Critical Care Medicine, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Raebareli road, Lucknow, Pin-226014 India.
• J Intensive Care. 2013 Jan 1;1(1):14.

BackgroundLimited studies are available on prevalence and severity of vitamin D deficiency in a critically ill population. To the best of our knowledge, this the first study of its kind in an Indian intensive care set-up.MethodsOne hundred fifty-eight critically ill patients were prospectively enrolled for over 2 years. Demographic profile and clinical characteristics were noted. Blood sample for serum 25 (OH) D was collected on admission (4 ml). Serum 25 (OH) D was measured using radioimmunoassay kit. Vitamin D deficiency was labelled as insufficient (31-60 nmol/l), deficient (15-30 nmol/l) and undetectable (<15 nmol/l). Statistical tests used were t test, chi-square test and binary logistic regression.ResultsVitamin D deficiency (<60 nmol/l) was present in 127 patients (80.4%). Twenty-six patients had (20.47%) undetectable vitamin D levels. The mean vitamin D level was higher amongst survivors (43.17 + 39.22) than in non-survivors (39.72 + 29.31). Vitamin D was not significantly associated with mortality in univariate analysis. Multiple logistic regression showed admission APACHE II (p = 0.008), lactate (p = 0.013) and pre-ICU hospital stay (p = 0.041) as independent predictors of mortality in critically ill patients (p < 0.05).ConclusionsVitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in critically ill patients. A causal association between vitamin D deficiency and mortality was not found in our study. Larger studies are needed to understand the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and ICU outcome.

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