Low Vitamin D Levels as a Risk Factor for Greater Covid-19 Severity
Evidence from cohort studies, an observational study, meta-analyses, and reviews.
PART I: Cohort Studies
This study, “Low plasma 25(OH) vitamin D level is associated with increased risk of COVID‐19 infection: an Israeli population‐based study,” was published in July. Researchers in Israel identified lower overall vitamin D levels in 782 Covid-19 compared to 7,025 non-Covid-19 participants. More importantly, low vitamin D levels increased the odds of hospitalization by 95%, after adjusting for demographics and comorbidities confounders. “Low plasma 25(OH)D level appears to be an independent risk factor for COVID‐19 infection and hospitalization,” the authors concluded.
In a smaller cohort study, titled “Low serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels in patients hospitalized with COVID‐19 are associated with greater disease severity,” researchers measured blood vitamin D levels in 134 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the UK. They found that only 19% of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) had normal vitamin D levels, and this number is 39.1% in those with non-ICU level severity. This relationship between low baseline vitamin D status and greater Covid-19 severity is also seen in a separate…
