PHCC conducts research to treat vitamin D deficiency

 

 

Primary Health Care Corporation's (PHCC) Clinical Research Department has studied the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and associated factors among adults in Qatar. The study was based on 15,716 participants with vitamin D deficiency, following approval of PHCC Research Ethics Committee. They were identified by studying the anonymised data taken from their electronic medical records during the study period which lasted more than three years from January 1, 2017 to June 30, 2020. Vitamin D deficiency is a worldwide public health concern as it can lead to severe diseases, such as rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. Dr Ahmed al-Nuaimi, public health and community medicine research consultant at PHCC, said: “Based on what has been done and in the light of the results that have shown the prevalence of such a health problem in Qatar, we have conducted a second study to compare the effectiveness of the treatments available in health centres in addressing the problem of vitamin D deficiency.”He noted that there are two types of vitamin D replacement therapies available in PHCC and doctors can prescribe: D2 and D3 (with a different chemical composition). He added: “In addition, there are two forms of these pharmaceuticals, namely injections and oral tablets, although the latter (D3) has not been available as tablets until recently. The current study is aimed to answer the question: “How effective is vitamin D2 compared to vitamin D3 parenteral supplementation for raising serum vitamin D levels in adult patients treated in a primary health care setting?”Four treatment options were compared including vitamin D2 injections, vitamin D3 injections, combined use of vitamin D injections, D2 tablets, combined use of vitamin D3 injections, and D2 tablets. Vitamin D tablets are mostly given as an option to continue treatment after using injections. The results showed that taking vitamin D3 in the form of injections followed by taking vitamin D2 as tablets are the best treatment option for vitamin D acute deficiency when used with patients registered at PHCC health centres.