Clinical Science | Endocrine
Munshi, R., Hussein, M., Toraih, E., Elshazly, R., Jardak, C., Sultana, N., Youssef, M., Mahmoud, M., Attia, A., Fawzy, M., Killackey, M., Kandil, E., Duchesne, J.
ePoster Presenter: Ruhul Munshi MD, Tulane School of Medicine
Background: As an immune modulator, vitamin D has been implicated in the coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19) outcome.
Objectives: We aim to systematically explore the association of vitamin D serum levels with COVID‐19 severity and prognosis.
Methods: The standardized mean difference (SMD) or odds ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI) were applied to estimate pooled results from six studies. The prognostic performance of vitamin D serum levels for predicting adverse outcomes with detection of the best cutoff threshold was determined by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Decision tree analysis by combining vitamin D levels and clinical features was applied to predict severity in COVID‐19 patients.
Results: Mean vitamin D serum level of 376 patients, was 21.9 nmol/L (95% CI = 15.36–28.45). Significant heterogeneity was found (I2 = 99.1%, p < .001). Patients with poor prognosis (N = 150) had significantly lower serum levels of vitamin D compared with those with good prognosis (N = 161), representing an adjusted standardized mean difference of −0.58 (95% Cl = −0.83 to −0.34, p < .001).
Conclusion: Serum vitamin D levels could be implicated in the COVID‐19 prognosis. Diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency could be a helpful adjunct in assessing patients’ potential of developing severe COVID‐19. Appropriate preventative and/or therapeutic intervention may improve COVID‐19 outcomes.