Childhood Asthma and Vitamin D-case Control Study in an Academic Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Aim:Vitamin D is suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of childhood asthma. It is one of the most researched hypotheses but previous reports are inconclusive. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between vitamin D and asthma; and its association with level of control of asthma in children.Materials and Methods:This case control study was conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital among children of 6-12 years of age. Children with bronchial asthma who were under follow-up in a respiratory clinic were enrolled as the cases. Healthy children with no history of bronchial asthma were enrolled as the controls. Serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D was measured via a chemiluminescence method.Results:There was high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/mL) among children with asthma compared to control and was associated with occurrence of asthma p=0.000; Univariate analysis of the relationship between asthma and vitamin D showed that decreased vitamin D levels were associated with significantly increased odds of asthmatic state (p<0.001). In multivariate analysis after adjustment for age, body mass index and sex, the relationship between vitamin D and asthma increased; but it was not associated with level of control of asthma.Conclusion:There is high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among children with asthma. Furthermore, the results did not consistently support that vitamin D levels associate with level of control of asthma.

Keywords

• asthma
• child
• prevalence
• vitamin d