Impact of vitamin D deficiency in relation to the clinical outcomes of hospitalized COVID-19 patients

TL;DR

This study found that vitamin D deficiency in hospitalized COVID-19 patients is linked to worse outcomes, including higher mortality and more severe disease.

Contribution

The study provides new evidence linking vitamin D deficiency to increased severity and mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Findings

Vitamin D deficiency was significantly associated with higher mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Lower vitamin D levels correlated with more severe disease and increased use of mechanical ventilation.

Patients with sufficient vitamin D levels had no mortality, suggesting a protective role of vitamin D.

Abstract

Background: Vitamin D deficiency is an emerging public health problem that affects more than one billion people worldwide. Vitamin D has been shown to be effective in preventing and reducing the severity of viral respiratory diseases, including influenza. However, the role of vitamin D in COVID-19 infection remains controversial. This study aimed to analyze the impact of vitamin D deficiency on the clinical outcome of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted among hospitalized COVID-19 patients at two COVID-19 referral hospitals in Indonesia from October 2021 until February 2022.

Results: The median serum 25(OH)D level in 191 hospitalized COVID-19 patients was 13.6 [IQR=10.98] ng/mL. The serum 25(OH)D levels were significantly lower among COVID-19 patients with vitamin D deficiency who had cardiovascular disease (p-value=0.04), the use of a ventilator (p-value=0.004), more severe COVID-19 cases (p-value=0.047), and mortality (p-value=0.002). Furthermore, serum 25(OH)D levels were significantly different between patients with mild and severe COVID-19 cases (p-value=0.019). Serum 25(OH)D levels in moderate and severe COVID-19 cases were significantly different (p-value=0.031). Lower serum 25(OH)D levels were significantly associated with an increased number of comorbidities (p-value=0.03), the severity of COVID-19 (p-value=0.002), and the use of mechanical ventilation (p-value=0.032). Mortality was found in 7.3% of patients with deficient vitamin D levels. However, patients with either sufficient or insufficient vitamin D levels did not develop mortality.

Conclusions: COVID-19 patients with vitamin D deficiency were significantly associated with having cardiovascular disease, mortality, more severe COVID-19 cases, and the used of mechanical ventilation. Lower serum 25(OH)D levels were associated with an increased number of comorbidities, COVID-19 severity, and the use of mechanical-ventilation. Thus, we suggest hospitalized COVID-19 patients to reach a sufficient vitamin D status to improve the clinical outcome of the disease.

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