Vitamin D Deficiency in Iran: A Multi-center Study among Different Urban Areas

Background: Recent studies have reported different prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in different sex and age groups in de­veloping countries. In the present survey, we elucidated the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in a multi-center study among Iranian population. Methods: In a random cluster sample of healthy men and women (ranged 20 to 69 years old), a number of 5232 subjects from five urban metropolitans' cities (Tehran, Tabriz, Mashhad, Shiraz and Booshehr) were recruited in 2001. Fasting blood sam­ple was taken from participants and sent to the laboratory for measurement of 25-hydroxy vitamin D level. Meta-analy­sis was performed using fixed effect method for estimation of vitamin D deficiency prevalence in a national level. Results: Moderate to severe vitamin D deficiency was estimated in urban areas (except for Booshehr because of its heterogene­ity) equal to 47.2, 45.7 and 44.2% in age groups of