Vitamin D levels of pediatric intensive care patients

Vitamin D Levels of Pediatric Intensive Care Patients Objective: By measuring serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHVitD) levels of the patients in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), vitamin D supplementation is aimed to those who have been determined to have vitamin D deficiency. Furthermore, it is aimed to compare the vitamin D levels of only acute disease patients with acute disease added to the chronic disease in PICU. Patients and Method: For this study, 327 patients (Group A) aged in the range of 1 month to 18 years, that have been hospitalized in PICU of İnönü University Turgut Özal Medicine Centre from January 2015 to June 2016, and 90 healthy subjects as a control group (Group B) were included. Group A was divided into two; patients with only acute disease (Group A1=125 patients) and patients with acute disease added to the chronic disease (Group A2=202 patients). Demographic information and 25-OHVitD, Ca, P, ALP levels of all cases were recorded retrospectively. Findings: Mean of the 25-OHVitD level was 20.9±16.4 ng/dl in Group A; 25.7±17.2 ng/dl in Group A1; 17.9±15.2 ng/dl in Group A2 and 25.9±14.4 ng/dl in Group B, respectively. Vitamin D deficiency was 55% in Group A, 43.2% in Group A1, 62.4% in Group A2 and 40% in Group B. In addition, vitamin D insufficiency was 16% in Group A, 17.6% in Group A1, 14.9% in Group A2 and 20% in Group B. On the other hand, vitamin D sufficiency was 29% in Group A, 39.2% in Group A1, 22.8% in Group A2, and 40% in Group B. The increase of age and presence of chronic illness were the determining factors of vitamin D level. Conclusion: It has been found that, the incidence of vitamin D deficiency increases in prevalence, as the age of the patients goes up. The patients in PICU, especially those who have chronic illness, were found to have vitamin D deficiency more frequent. It is concluded that elimination of vitamin D deficiency may contribute to the treatment of the disease for the patients in PICU and the children with chronic illness.