Abstract
Purpose
To evaluate vitamin D levels among adult Sudanese RA patients and identify its correlation with RA disease activity.
Patients and Methods
A bicentric cross-sectional analytical hospital-based study was performed in two Khartoum State Hospitals between October 2019 and January 2020, enrolling 90 Sudanese patients with RA. Serum vitamin D levels were measured with a standard reference level of 30ng/mL–100ng/mL. A detailed interview-based questionnaire was used to collect the patient’s information, clinical data and lab results—disease activity was assessed via the DAS-28 score. The data was then analyzed using SPSS v-24.
Results
Vitamin D levels were low in 79 candidates (87.8%), 53 of which (67.1%) showed moderate insufficiency (10–30ng/mL), and 26 candidates (32.9%) had severe deficiency (less than 10 ng/mL). Regarding the disease activity, 57 participants (63.3%) had moderate disease activity (DAS-28=3.2–5.1), and 22 participants (24.4%) had high disease activity (DAS-28 >5.1). A significant negative correlation was reported between high DAS-28 scores and low vitamin D levels with p-value = <0.001 (95% CI: −0.8591 to 0.0015) and r = −0.44.
Conclusion
Most adult Sudanese rheumatoid arthritis patients showed low vitamin D levels (87.8%), which was also significantly correlated with increased disease activity (P-value <0.05). Moreover, the prevalence of low vitamin D levels was significantly higher than in numerous countries worldwide.
Acknowledgments
Hospital Medical Staff and Admission offices in all Sudanese hospitals.
Disclosure
All authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.