Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases visiting the rheumatology clinic at the National Referral Hospital, Bhutan

Abstract

Objective: Vitamin D deficiency in a patient with autoimmune rheumatic disease is the most discussed topic these days, is considered to be a pandemic, and its prevalence and associations have been studied by many countries. We aim to study the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in autoimmune rheumatic diseases in patients visiting the rheumatology clinic at the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital in Thimphu. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted on 126 patients in Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital, who were visiting the rheumatology clinic. Vitamin D levels were analysed among these rheumatology patients. EpiData software is used for data entry and analysis. Results: Out of 126 patients, 71 had rheumatoid arthritis, 34 had systemic erythema-tosus, 8 mixed connective tissue disease and 13 had other autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Among these, only 12 (9.52%) patients had normal vitamin D levels, and 114 (90.5%) patients had lower than normal serum levels of the vitamin. Among these, 75 (59.5%) were deficient and 39 (31.0%) were insufficient. Conclusion: The study found that the prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency is high with 59.5% among patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases and only with 9.5% were with normal levels of vitamin D.