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Table 1 Characteristics of study participants

From: Prevalence and predictors of vitamin D deficiency in young African children

 

Overall

Kenya

Uganda

Burkina Faso

The Gambia

South Africa

No. of participants (%)

4509 (100%)

1361 (30.1%)

1301 (28.9%)

329 (7.3%)

629 (13.9%)

889 (19.7%)

Median 25(OH)D nmol/L (IQR)a

77.6 (63.6, 94.2)

81.0 (66.3, 101.6)

78.6 (65.1, 94.5)

78.4 (64.5, 91.3)

71.2 (59.1, 84.2)

76.2 (60.6, 91.9)

Vitamin D status

 25(OH)D > 150 nmol/l

79/4509 (1.8%)

51/1361 (3.7%)

17/1301 (0.1%)

4/329 (1.3%)

1/629 (0.2%)

6/889 (0.7%)

 25(OH)D > 75 nmol/l

2485/4509 (55.1%)

815/1361 (59.9%)

756/1301 (58.1%)

186/329 (56.5%)

265/629 (42.1%)

463/889 (52.1%)

 25(OH)D 50–75 nmol/l

1674/4509 (37.1%)

464/1361 (34.1%)

479/1301 (36.8%)

123/329 (37.4%)

302/629 (48.0%)

306/889 (34.4%)

 25(OH)D < 50 nmol/l

350/4509 (7.8%)

82/1361 (6.0%)

66/1301 (5.1%)

20/329 (6.1%)

62/629 (9.9%)

120/889 (13.5%)

 25(OH)D < 30 nmol/l

28/4509 (0.6%)

4/1361 (0.3%)

5/1301 (0.4%)

0/329 (0%)

2/629 (0.3%)

17/889 (1.9%)

Median age (months)

23.9 (12.3, 35.9)

19.8 (12.7, 36.8)

24.1 (23.9, 35.9)

23.4 (19.7, 26.4)

46.6 (35.2, 58.7)

12.0 (11.9, 12.1)

Age categories (months)

 < 12

816/4509 (18.1%)

300/1361 (22.0%)

24/1301 (1.8%)

19/329 (5.8%)

-

473/889 (53.2%)

 12–24

1597/4509 (35.4%)

555/1361 (40.8%)

440/1301 (33.8%)

172/329 (52.3%)

15/629 (2.4%)

415/889 (46.7%)

 24–36

1029/450 (22.8%)

153/1361 (11.2%)

587/1301 (45.1%)

138/329 (42.0%)

150/629 (23.9%)

1/889 (0.1%)

 36–48

478/4509 (10.6%)

146/1361 (10.7%)

167/1301 (11.8%)

-

165/629 (26.2%)

-

 48+

589/4509 (13.1%)

207/1361 (15.2%)

83/1301 (6.4%)

-

299/629 (47.5%)

-

Sex: females

2216/4509 (49.1%)

671/1361 (49.3%)

641/1301 (49.3%)

161/329 (48.9%)

297/629 (47.2%)

446/889 (50.2%)

Seasoneb

 Summer/short rains/dry

867/4503 (19.3%)

285/1361 (20.9%)

331/1296 (25.5%)

72/329 (21.9%)

-

179/889 (18.1%)

 Autumn/dry

1475/4503 (32.8%)

896/1361 (65.8%)

295/1296 (22.8%)

123/329 (37.4%)

-

161/889 (18.1%)

 Winter/long rains

1361/4503 (30.2%)

86/1361 (6.3%)

330/1296 (25.5%)

129/329 (39.2%)

536/628 (85.4%)

280/889 (31.5%)

 Spring/dry

800/4503 (17.8%)

94/1361 (6.9%)

340/1296 (26.2%)

5/329 (1.5%)

92/628 (14.7%)

269/889 (30.3%)

Nutritional statusc

 Stunted

581/2289 (25.4%)

99/208 (47.6%)

203/1282 (15.8%)

103/307 (33.5%)

176/492 (35.8%)

n/a

 Underweight

389/2487 (15.6%)

102/389 (26.2%)

103/1296 (8.0%)

58/309 (18.8%)

126/493 (25.6%)

n/a

 Wasted

147/2285 (6.4%)

24/205 (11.7%)

59/1281 (4.6%)

20/307 (6.5%)

44/492 (8.9%)

n/a

Inflammationd

1019/4469 (22.8%)

363/1344 (27.0%)

306/1285 (23.8%)

109/322 (33.9%)

85/629 (13.5%)

156/889 (17.6%)

Malariae

445/3293 (13.5%)

227/1082 (20.8%)

89/1280 (7.0%)

64/303 (21.1%)

65/628 (10.4%)

n/a

  1. South African children were not exposed to malaria
  2. IQR inter-quartile range, n/a not available, 25(OH)D 25-hydroxyvitamin D
  3. aMedians (interquartile ranges) are presented. bSeasons were based on 3 monthly intervals: 1st season, December to February; 2nd season, March to May; 3rd season, June to August; 4th season, September to November. In South Africa, the seasons correspond to summer, autumn, winter and spring, respectively, in Uganda and Kenya there are two rainy and two dry seasons and in Burkina Faso and The Gambia there is a single rainy and dry season. However, timing of the rains is often unpredictable and may vary from these times. cStunted was defined as height-for-age Z score < − 2; underweight as weight-for-age Z score < − 2, wasted as weight-for-height Z score < − 2 (denominator number varied because anthropometry data was not available for South African children). dInflammation as CRP > 5 mg/L or ACT > 0.6 g/L. ACT, but not CRP, was available for The Gambia. eMalaria as the presence of P. falciparum parasites on blood film
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BMC Medicine

ISSN: 1741-7015

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