Frequency of Vitamin D Deficiency in Children with Nephrotic Syndrome

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of vitamin D deficiency in children with nephrotic syndrome.

Methodology: This cross-sectional study was done at pediatric Medicine Department, Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital Muzaffargarh from March 2025 to August 2025, on pediatric patients aged 2 to 12 years, both boys and girls, diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome. A 3 ml of venous blood sample was obtained from each patient through aseptic technique to assess the vitamin D level, which was categorized as deficient when serum vitamin D level was < 50 nmol/L on reporting time. All the obtained data was noted on proforma and the analysis was done through SPSS 23.0 version. the data analysis was done through SPSS 23.0 version. The numerical data was presented as mean and standard deviation. The categorical variables were presented as frequency and percentages. Additionally, data was stratified to determine the effect on prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, by applying post stratification chi-square test taking p-value < 0.05 as significant statistically.

Results: Mean age of 6.62 ± 3.10 years and boys were slightly predominant 78 (52.0%). Vitamin D deficiency was around 51.20%. It was statistically insignificant according to age and gender (p >0.05), while socioeconomic status, residential status and sun exposure showed a significant association, with deficiency being more common among children from lower middle socioeconomic status, urban children and less than one hour of daily sun exposure (p = 0.001).

Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency was observed to be highly prevalent among children with nephrotic syndrome, influencing around half of the study population with considerably decreased level.