Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Vitamin D Deficiency is Less Prevalent Among Children with Common Medical Illnesses than Apparently Healthy Children in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Version 1 : Received: 5 December 2020 / Approved: 8 December 2020 / Online: 8 December 2020 (09:42:07 CET)

How to cite: Shaka, M.; Kabthymer, R.; Meshesha, M. Vitamin D Deficiency is Less Prevalent Among Children with Common Medical Illnesses than Apparently Healthy Children in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Preprints 2020, 2020120187. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202012.0187.v1 Shaka, M.; Kabthymer, R.; Meshesha, M. Vitamin D Deficiency is Less Prevalent Among Children with Common Medical Illnesses than Apparently Healthy Children in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Preprints 2020, 2020120187. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202012.0187.v1

Abstract

Studies shows that, normal to high serum 25(OH)D status appears to have some beneficial influence on the incidence and severity of some, though not all, types of infections. However, studies with vitamin D supplementation on young children produced conflicting results with respect to the level of vitamin D deficiency among common medical illnesses among children. Method: A systematic review of literatures from PubMed, CINAHL, Web of science, global health and Google scholar electronic databases was conducted to assess the pooled prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among healthy and sick children in sub-Saharan Africa. The data was extracted by two authors independently using standard data extraction format and STATA Version 14 was used for analysis. The heterogeneity of the studies was assessed by using I2 test. A random-effects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence among both healthy and sick children. Presence of publication bias was checked using Funnel plot and Egger's test. Result: A total of 1212 articles were identified by the total search of utilized data bases of which 13 papers fulfilled the inclusion criteria and accessible with full document. The meta-analysis revealed that the pooled prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among healthy children in this study was 50.06% (95%CI 33.46%, 66.67%) with mean serum vitamin D level of 41.06 nm/L (CI range from 23.82nm/L to 58.31nm/L). The pooled prevalence among the sick children was 39.36% (CI 20.57%, 57.96%) with 66.96nm/L (95% CI 54.81nm/L, 79.11nm/L) mean concentration of vitamin D. Comparing the two level of the pooled prevalence, the prevalence among the healthy children was significantly higher compared to those who have common medical illnesses and the pooled mean concentration among the sick was much higher than the mean concentration among healthy children. Conclusion: The level of pooled prevalence among both group of population was significantly of public health concern and the prevalence among the healthy children was much higher among the sick children implying the need for reconsideration of available recommendations for the prevention of vitamin D deficiency

Keywords

Vitamin D; under five; healthy; sick; sub-Saharan

Subject

Medicine and Pharmacology, Immunology and Allergy

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