Are female patients and the elderly at a higher risk for Vitamin D deficiency?

Introduction: Vitamin D deficiency is common in healthy Saudi adults. Studies have reported that vitamin D deficiency is more prevalent among females and the elderly. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency at both gender and age groups Method: Cross sectional study of 646 adult Saudi patients Result: 559 participants out of 646 had vitamin D deficiency (86.5%) (<50nmol/l), with more deficiency among males than females (89.3% vs. 84.7%), however the proportion of females who had severe deficiency (<25 nmol/l) was higher than males (40.7% vs. 32.4%) with P value = 0.006. Conclusion: In contrast to current concepts, this study showed that male and younger patients had higher rates of vitamin deficiency; the exact reasons need to be carefully sought.