Vitamin D deficiency and length of pediatric intensive care unit stay: a prospective observational study

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
• Nutritional Science
• Clinical Research

Background:

• Limited data exists on vitamin D status in pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) patients.
• The role of vitamin D in critically ill children remains debated, with uncertainty about whether it's a marker of disease severity or an independent factor.
• Interventional studies are lacking to confirm if vitamin D supplementation improves outcomes in this population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in children admitted to the ICU.
• To investigate the association between vitamin D deficiency and clinical outcomes, specifically the duration of ICU stay.

Main Methods:

• A prospective study enrolled 101 children aged 1 month to 17 years admitted to the ICU over 8 months.
• Vitamin D deficiency was defined as serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels below 20 ng/mL at admission.
• The primary endpoints were the prevalence of deficiency and its association with length of ICU stay.

Main Results:

• A high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was observed in 74% of the pediatric ICU patients.
• Children with vitamin D deficiency had a significantly longer median ICU stay (7 days) compared to those without deficiency (3 days).
• Multivariable analysis confirmed that vitamin D deficiency was independently associated with a longer ICU stay (adjusted mean difference: 3.5 days), even after controlling for severity scores and other clinical factors.

Conclusions:

• Critically ill children admitted to the ICU exhibit a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency.
• Vitamin D deficiency is significantly associated with an increased duration of ICU stay in this pediatric population.