Vitamin D sufficiency seems to have an independent correlation with diminished risk of mortality from COVID-19 among elderly patients and patients without obesity, suggested a new study published in the journal Endocrine Practice.

Charoenngam et al sought to ascertain the link between vitamin D status and morbidity and mortality in adults hospitalized for COVID-19.

A retrospective chart review was conducted among COVID-19 patients, 18 years of age and older, who were hospitalized at Boston University Medical Center from March 1 through August 4, last year. The patients included in the study had tested positive for COVID-19 and their serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D had been measured within a year before the positive tests. Information was obtained from electronic medical records and the link between vitamin D status and hospital morbidity and mortality was assessed for these patients.

Overall, 287 patients were included in the study. Of these, 36% of the patients were vitamin D-sufficient [25(OH)D >30 ng/mL] and 14% patients died during hospitalization. Multivariate analysis was conducted in patients aged ≥65 years which showed that vitamin D sufficiency [25(OH)D ≥30 ng/mL] had a statistically significant associated with reduced likelihood of death (adjusted OR 0.33, 95%CI, 0.12-0.94), acute respiratory distress syndrome (adjusted OR 0.22, 95%CI, 0.05-0.96), and severe sepsis/septic shock (adjusted OR 0.26, 95%CI, 0.08-0.88), after adjusting for potential confounders. For patients with body mass index (BMI) <30 kg/m2, vitamin D sufficiency was noted to have a statistically significant association with reduced odds of death (adjusted OR 0.18, 95%CI, 0.04-0.84). There appeared to be no significant link in the subgroups of patients <65 years of age or those with BMI ≥30 kg/m2.

Therefore, vitamin D sufficiency was shown to be independently associated with decreased risk of mortality from COVID-19 in elderly individuals and those without obesity.Source: Charoenngam N, Shirvani A, Reddy N, et al. Association of vitamin D status with hospital morbidity and mortality in adult hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Endocr Pract. 2021 Mar 8;S1530-891X(21)00057-4.

Source: Charoenngam N, Shirvani A, Reddy N, et al. Association of vitamin D status with hospital morbidity and mortality in adult hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Endocr Pract. 2021 Mar 8;S1530-891X(21)00057-4.