Publication

Abstract : Introduction and Aim: The COVID-19 pandemic struck the world in a way that had never been seen before, offering significant problems to the health-care system. Vitamin D insufficiency was one of the earliest risk factors to be investigated for a possible link to the development of severe COVID-19 pneumonia. The current study aimed to explore the association of clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients with serum 25(OH)D levels at admission. Methodology: This prospective study was conducted on COVID-19-positive patients admitted at a tertiary care hospital in South India. The correlation of serum 25 hydroxy Vitamin D 25 (OH)D levels with the severity of COVID-19, ventilator requirement, development of sepsis, mortality, and length of stay were assessed. Results: Fifty-six subjects with a mean age of 59.89 ± 16.29 years were enrolled in the study. The mean level of 25OHD of the cohort was 18.22 ± 10.11 ng/mL. Overall, 34% (n = 19) had adequate serum 25(OH)D levels, compared to 30.3% (n = 17) who had insufficient and 35.7% (n = 20) who had deficient serum 25(OH)D levels. A trend of lower levels of serum 25(OH)D was present in relation to moderate-to-severe COVID-19 disease, use of mechanical ventilation, 28-day all-cause mortality, and incidence of secondary sepsis, although without reaching statistical significance. The correlation between serum 25(OH)D levels and D-dimer values demonstrated significantly higher D-dimer levels in patients with low serum 25(OH)D levels (P = 0.025). Conclusion: In our study, hypovitaminosis D was not significantly associated with moderate-to-severe COVID-19 pneumonia among hospitalized patients.