VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY AMONG DOCTORS AND STAFF NURSES: A NEGLECTED DOMAIN AMONG MEDICAL CARE GIVERS
Background: Various factors lead to hypovitaminosis (decreased vitamin D levels in serum/blood), in general population, sunlight being one of the major factors. Doctors and staff nurses are particularly at risk due to long working hours indoors, which deprives them of adequate Ultraviolet light exposure.Methods: It was a prospective descriptive cross sectional study conducted at Ziauddin University Hospital, Keamari campus, from August 2018 to July 2019. The objective of this study was to determine the status of vitamin D deficiency among doctors and staff nurses working at Ziauddin University Hospital. All those doctors and staff nurses were included in the study, who were already advised by physicians to get serum vitamin D levels done for their symptoms. Results: A total sample of 118 was collected. 56 doctors and 62 staff nurses participated in the survey. 85 out of 118 (72%) subjects were either deficient or insufficient of vitamin D. Conclusion: Even though doctors and nurses are considered to have better understanding of vitamin D deficiency symptoms and morbidity it causes; still this study found out that majority of the healthcare providers working at Ziauddin hospital were deficient of this vitamin.