Burden of Vitamin D and Vitamin B12 Deficiency among Older Patients in North India: a Single-Centre Study

Vitamin D and B12 deficiency in older adults is associated with osteoporosis and dementia, respectively. The objective of this study is to estimate the prevalence of vitamin D and B12 deficiency among older patients, assess gender-specific differences and analyse seasonal variations in serum levels.

This is a retrospective hospital record-based study. All patients undergoing vitamin D and/or B12 estimation from October 2022 to September 2023 in the Biochemistry laboratory of AIIMS Raebareli, India, were included. Serum vitamin D and B12 assays were performed using chemiluminescence immunoassays on VITROS ECiQ Immunodiagnostic Systems. For vitamin D, ≥30 ng/mL was considered normal, 20-30 ng/mL as insufficient and <20 ng/mL as deficiency. For vitamin B12, ≥300 pg/mL was considered normal, 200-300 pg/mL as borderline and <200 pg/mL as deficiency. Statistical analysis was performed in IBM SPSSv26.

We estimated the levels of vitamin D in 1 647 older patients and those of vitamin B12 in 2 298 older patients. The prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency (20-30 ng/mL), vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/mL), borderline B12 (200-300 pg/mL) and B12 deficiency (<200 pg/mL) was seen in 31.9%, 28.9%, 17.1% and 17.1% of subjects, respectively. Female participants had significantly lower vitamin D and higher vitamin B12 levels than male subjects. Significant seasonal variations in levels of vitamins D and B12 were observed, with the lowest levels being detected in March (F=4.98, p=0.00) and August (F=2.51, p=0.04), respectively.

Older patients in North India suffer from a high burden of vitamin D and B12 deficiency. Introducing a nutritional supplementation programme for older persons and liberalisation of non-vegetarian food sales may be helpful.