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Objective: Community-acquired pneumonia is a critical public health issue causing serious morbidity and mortality. It holds a prominent role in hospital and intensive care bed occupancy and economically inflicts heavy costs. Serious attempts are underway to reduce the length of hospital stay of patients in Turkey and in the world. Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with an increased risk of respiratory infections. This study has been designed to determine the relationship between vitamin D level and mortality and disease severity of hospitalized community-acquired pneumonia patients.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study examined 50 community-acquired pneumonia patients who were treated in our hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) in 2018-2019 period. Demographic and anthropometric features of patients were recorded. Vitamin D level was determined by measuring with serum 25-hydroxylated vitamin D (25 [OH] D) by ELISA method.
Results: Examination of the patients’ vitamin D levels demonstrated that 23 (46%) were seriously deficient, 11 (22%) were deficient, 8 (16%) were insufficient, and 8 (16%) were sufficient. All patients with sufficient serum vitamin D levels were transferred from ICU to the ward. In the group with insufficient serum vitamin D levels, 16 (38.09%) patients deceased. A statistically significant difference was found between serum vitamin D levels and the treatment results of patients (p=0.043). As vitamin D levels decrease, the duration of stay in ICU becomes longer. Nine (39.1%) patients with serious deficiency remained in ICU for 14 days or longer, while 9 (34.8%) patients with deficiency received ICU treatment for 7-14 days.
Conclusions: The length of ICU stay was longer in patients with serious vitamin D deficiency and the mortality rate was higher. Vitamin D concentration demonstrated a negative correlation with the length of hospital stay, inflicting heavy financial costs on health care. Prevention of vitamin D deficiency may decrease the mortality rate of community-acquired pneumonia.
Klimik Dergisi. 2020; 33(3): 277-80.
Cite this article as: Sümer-Coşkun A, Öztürk-Durmaz Ş. [Evaluation of the relationship between vitamin D levels and mortality and morbidity in intensive care unit patients with pneumonia]. Klimik Derg. 2020; 33(3): 277-80. Turkish.