APGO

Premlatha, Amalraj, MBBS, MPH

Charletta, A, Ayers, MD, MPH, Erin, Murphy, MD

Winner 2012 CREOG & APGO Annual Meeting - Award for Oral Abstract Presentation Part-Time/Volunteer Faculty

Introduction/Background: Approximately 1 billion people are estimated to be affected globally by low serum levels of Vitamin D. Preventing and correcting this deficiency would have a large positive impact on health outcomes and health care costs worldwide. According to National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), approximately 36% of Americans are Vitamin D deficient. Lack of Vitamin D at a young age is known to affect the skeletal strength at a later age and can lead to osteomalacia, osteopenia and osteoporosis. Young adults who appear to be at great risk for developing Vitamin D deficiency due to limited sunlight exposure are medical students. These learners are mainly indoors during the prime time of sun exposure, i.e. from 10am to 3pm. Objective: We hypothesized (Ha) that majority of medical students tested would have serum Vitamin D levels below values that are considered sufficient. The objectives of this study was to test the study hypothesis by: (i) measuring the level of serum Vitamin D in medical students between 20-30 years of age; (ii) increasing their awareness of Vitamin D benefits as future health care providers; and (iii) educating subjects on Vitamin D deficiency, its consequences and the preventative measures to avoid the sequelae that may result from low levels.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 20-30 year old medical students (n=40) currently enrolled in UMDNJ/RWJMS, was conducted from March-April 2011. A brief questionnaire collected their demographics, food habits, outside activity and degree of sun exposure. Blood was drawn to assess serum levels of 25 hydroxyvitamin-D levels (25(OH) D). Vitamin D deficiency was defined as serum levels below 20ng/ml, and Vitamin D insufficiency was defined as serum levels between 20-30ng/ml and normal levels beyond 30ng/ml. Each student (n=40) was provided with a fact sheet from National Institute of Health on Vitamin D, it’s importance and ways to prevent Vitamin deficiency.

Results: The sample comprised of 54%females; 43.6% whites. Based on the serum levels of 25(OH)D, one third of this sample was Vitamin D deficient 25(OH)D serum level of <20ng/ml) 25% had adequate Vitamin D levels (>30ng/ml) and the remaining were Vitamin D insufficient (20-30ng/ml).

Conclusion: Seventy five percent of medical students were found to have below sufficient levels of serum Vitamin D. This finding supports our hypothesis that inadequate Vitamin D levels in medical students are a major public health issue. This group of learners may have future bone health problems if wide spread Vitamin D education is not embarked upon and that these students, in turn, educate their future patients about the Vitamin D. Because of the small sample size, these results cannot be statistically verified. Hence more research is warranted to confirm these preliminary findings.