Low prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in elderly Afro-Caribbean men

Ethn Dis. 2011 Winter;21(1):79-84.

Abstract

Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent worldwide, and is linked to several major chronic, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Vitamin D deficiency has not been evaluated in dark skinned individuals living in areas of high sun exposure utilizing more reliable mass spectrometry assay techniques. We determined the prevalence of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) deficiency in Afro-Caribbean men on the tropical island of Tobago, where there is a high level of sunshine year round. Serum 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 metabolites were measured following extraction and purification using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry in 424 Afro-Caribbean men aged > 65 years from a larger population-based cohort study. The mean (+/- SD) serum total 25(OH)D concentration was 35.1 +/- 8.9 ng/mL. Deficiency (< 20 ng/mL) was present in only 2.8% and insufficiency (< 30 ng/mL) in 24% of the men. Multiple linear regression analysis identified age, BMI and daily vitamin D supplementation as the independent correlates of 25(OH)D. None of the men who consumed fish more than once per week had vitamin D deficiency, compared to 4% of the men who consumed fish once per week or less (P = .01, adjusted for age, BMI, and daily vitamin D supplementation). In conclusion, vitamin D deficiency is very uncommon in this Afro-Caribbean population. Longitudinal studies are needed to delineate the possible effects of high vitamin D levels in this population on major diseases hypothesized to be associated with vitamin D deficiency.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Black People*
  • Humans
  • Linear Models
  • Male
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Prevalence
  • Trinidad and Tobago / epidemiology
  • Vitamin D / analogs & derivatives
  • Vitamin D / blood
  • Vitamin D Deficiency / ethnology*

Substances

  • Vitamin D
  • 25-hydroxyvitamin D