Prevalence of low serum vitamin D concentration in an urban population of elderly women in Poland

INTRODUCTION: So far only scarce data have been published regarding serum vitamin D concentrations in elderly women in Poland. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in a population of women aged 60 to 90 years and living in Warsaw. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study comprised 274 women from the general population (mean age 69.1 ±5.7 years, body mass index [BMI] 28.9 ±4.6 kg/m2, serum creatinine concentration 0.7 ±0.12 mg/dl). Subjects who had been treated with glucocorticoids or antifracture drugs, or supplemented with vitamin D or calcium, were excluded. The study was conducted in winter. Serum vitamin D, calcium, phosphate, and parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentrations were measured. RESULTS: The mean vitamin D concentration was 13.6 ng/ml in the whole examined population. Vitamin D levels above 30 ng/ml were detected in 4% of subjects. Vitamin D insufficiency (20–30 ng/ml) was found in 12.8% of subjects, and its deficiency (<20 ng/ml) in 83.2% of subjects. Vitamin D concentrations in women under and over 70 years of age did not differ significantly. There were no associations of vitamin D concentrations with age, BMI, renal function, or serum calcium concentrations. However, we observed a significant inverse correlation between vitamin D concentrations and PTH. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of low vitamin D concentrations in an urban population of elderly women in Poland is very high. Lower vitamin D levels are associated with a higher PTH concentration.