Abstract
Background: Vitamin D was used in tuberculosis management in the pre-antibiotic era. Vitamin D deficiency has been implicated in activation of TB. A meta-analysis published has shown the association of vitamin D deficiency with two-fold higher risk of active TB and certain studies had also demonstrated that vitamin D supplementation in TB patients is associated with faster clinical and radiological improvement and sputum smear conversion.
Aim: To assess the serum vitamin D levels among the patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and its association with the severity of the disease.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted for a period of one year in Government medical college hospital, Salem. A total of 300 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis confirmed by sputum AFB were included in the study. The vitamin D status of study participants was interpreted based on the serum 25-(OH) Vitamin D concentration following the manufacturer’s instructions as deficient (<20 ng/ml), insufficient (20–29 ng/ml), sufficient (30–100 ng/ml) and potential toxicity (>100 ng/ml).
Results: Vitamin D levels were found to be normal in 34% of the subjects and it was insufficient in 11% and found to be deficit in 55% of the study subjects. Multi-logistic regression analysis was applied to identify the factors influencing deficiency of vitamin D among the patients with tuberculosis among males and females. It was proved that age more than 30 years , female gender, sputum results showing 1+ or more, BMI <18.5 and patients with various co-morbidities found to have statistical significant association with reduction in the vitamin D levels among patients with tuberculosis.
Conclusion: Considering the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, the present study implicates that further follow-up studies are warranted to determine whether vitamin D supplementation can have a role in the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis.
Keywords: vitamin D, pulmonary tuberculosis, prevalence, multi-logistic regression.
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Corresponding Author
Dr M Kumar Raja
Assistant Professor, Dept of Medicine
Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College, Salem
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v6i1.93
