Vitamin D deficiency and anemia: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Vitamin D has been suggested to have an effect on erythropoiesis. We sought to evaluate the prevalence of anemia in a population of individuals with vitamin D deficiency compared with those with normal levels in a population of a large integrated healthplan. A cross-sectional analysis in the period 1 January 2004 through 31 December 2006 of subjects with documented concurrent levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and hemoglobin were evaluated. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as <30 ng/mL and anemia was defined as a hemoglobin <11 g/dL. A total of 554 subjects were included in the analysis. Anemia was present in 49% of 25-hydroxyvitamin D-deficient subjects compared with 36% with normal 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (p∈