Serum Vitamin D Testing – A Necessity Or An Injudicious Expenditure

Objective: To evaluate the serum vitamin D levels and to determine the justification for vitamin D testing in patients. Study Design: Cross-Sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Chemical Pathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Rawalpindi, Pakistan from Oct to Dec 2022. Methodology: Patients of either gender coming for vitamin D level estimation were included. Vitamin D levels were analyzed on Immunoassay auto-analyzer. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 26. Results: Out of 249 patients, 87(34.9%) were male while 162(65.1%) were female, with mean age 41.09±19.10 years and mean Vitamin D levels 73.08±45.86nmol/l. None of the patients (0%) had vitamin D deficiency, 174(69.9%) had vitamin D insufficiency, 72(28.9%) had vitamin D sufficiency, while 3(1.2%) had vitamin D excess. Major reasons for Vitamin D testing was bone pains, which were present in 72(28.9%) patients. A significant difference in vitamin D levels according to reason of testing (p<0.05) was observed. Total expense on vitamin D testing for 249 patients was PKR 722100/- (249x2900), as compared to cost of supplementation PKR 199200/- (249x800) in clinical suspected cases. Conclusion: Majority of patients that tested for vitamin D were in lower risk group, and were not vitamin D deficient, with bone pains being the complaint due to which most patients were tested.