@article{Bhatta_Pradhan_Gurung_Risal_2018, title={Hypovitaminosis D in Healthy Health Care Professionals: A Real Deficiency or Necessity of New Reference Value for Specific Population?}, volume={6}, url={https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JLMC/article/view/20425}, abstractNote={<p><strong>Introduction</strong>:</p><p>Vitamin D, a steroid vitamin, has attracted noticeable interest of clinicians and researchers for decades because of its diverse array of biological functions. Various studies have shown that the level of vitamin D is low in significant proportion of healthy individuals. However, indoor workers especially health care professionals are not focused, particularly in Nepal. We aimed to measure level of vitamin D in apparently healthy health care professionals.</p><p><strong>Methods</strong>:</p><p>A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in apparently healthy health care professionals working at Kathmandu University Hospital in Dhulikhel, Nepal. Structured questionnaire including socio­demographics, dietary habits, and anthropometric measurements was filled in by the participants. Total serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D was measured by Chemiluminescence Immunoassay (CLIA) technique. Results were analyzed with <em>t-test</em>, <em>Chi-square</em> test, and <em>Pearson correlation</em> test.</p><p><strong>Results</strong>:</p><p>Data from 64 female and 47 male were analyzed, mean 25-hydroxy vitamin D level was 8.81 ng/dl (<em>SD</em> = 4). Almost all (98.2%, <em>n</em> = 109) participants had vitamin D lower than normal where 72.7% (<em>n</em> = 92) were deficient, 24.5% (<em>n</em> = 17) were insufficient, and only 2.7% (<em>n</em> = 2) were having adequate level. Non-specific body pain was the only factor among all we studied that was significantly associated with vitamin D levels (<em>p</em> = 0.002).</p><p><strong>Conclusion</strong>:</p><p>Hypovitaminosis of 25-hydroxy vitamin D was found to be very common (98.2%) in apparently healthy health care subjects of Dhulikhel Hospital. This may necessitate further research to redefine the biological reference value for our population.</p><p> </p><p>DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.22502/jlmc.v6i1.173">https://doi.org/10.22502/jlmc.v6i1.173</a></p>}, number={1}, journal={Journal of Lumbini Medical College}, author={Bhatta, Rajendra Dev and Pradhan, Nikita and Gurung, Rojeena and Risal, Prabodh}, year={2018}, month={Jun.}, pages={1–5} }