Abstract

Aim: The vitamin D deficiency is a pandemic health problem due to worldwide modernization. We tried to determine the impact of the reduced sun exposure on the vitamin D levels of the medical faculty students due to the long study hours and indoor study environment and classrooms.
Material and Method: Two-hundred and eleven (113 women, 98 men) medical faculty students were included in the study. Blood samples were obtained from the students and serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D3 levels were measured on the same day. Students were healthy individuals, aged 17-29 years (mean age= 19 years). Data were analyzed using SPSS software program. The frequency distribution of the qualitative data and arithmetic mean, minimum, maximum and standard deviation of the quantitative data were used to define descriptive statistics. Non-parametric tests and Chi-square test were used for the analysis of qualitative data; the analysis of the quantitative data was done by observing normally distributed data. The significance level of Chi-square test, independent-student t-test and Mann-Whitney U test were accepted as p≤0.05.
Results: Serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D3 levels was below 20 ng/ml in 56% (n=118) of the students, of which 72% (n=85) were women. Conclusion: Especially, women had high levels of vitamin D deficiency in our study. This high ratio gives rise to thought that women spend more of their time indoor spaces due to modernization., women are exposed to sun light less than men, and thus they have higher levels of vitamin D deficiency.

Key words: Vitamin D; Medical Faculty Students; Vitamin Deficiency.