Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Toward Vitamin D: A Cross-Sectional Study from Jordan

Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are considered as major health problems in many countries including Jordan.

The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge of Jordanian population regarding vitamin D sources, importance, causes and symptoms of vitamin D deficiency as well as their attitude and practices toward vitamin D' sources, supplements and laboratory investigations.

This is a cross-sectional study among Jordanian population. A survey was designed using Google Forms online platform. The survey included three main sections with 49 questions covering the aims.

The study included a total of 891 participants. The majority were females (75.3%) from the northern of Jordan (66.4%). The participants showed high level of knowledge (80%) regarding sunlight as main source of vitamin D, vitamin D importance for bone health, and the role of limited sunlight exposure as a cause of deficiency. However, they showed moderate (60-79%) or low level of knowledge (<60%) regarding many other aspects. The main sources of knowledge were the social media (52.9%) and the medical staff (46%). Participants showed positive attitude (80%) toward the exposure to sunlight, neutral attitude (60-79%) toward the consumption of dairy products, fortified food, and vitamin D supplements, but negative attitude (<60%) toward many other sources. The main indication for supplements was treatment of deficiency. Vitamin D levels were mainly insufficient (50.43%) or deficient (33.26%) before consumption, but there was an overall improvement upon treatment (normal (60.26%), insufficiency (28.21%), and deficiency (8.55%)).

National health educational programs about vitamin D are highly recommended. This can be driven by the health organizations and health care providers. The production of high-quality medical content on popular social media platforms is expected to improve people' knowledge and attitude. Consumption of vitamin D supplements appears to be driven by many factors including awareness level, healthcare recommendations, and personal health goals.