Search

Aim: This study aimed to study the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, assessing the influence of sex, age, and season of the year. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 1329 healthy subjects (668 women and 661 men) aged 18-89 years in Santiago, Chile. Age (years), body mass index, medical history, working status, sex, and date of blood sample were collected. Results: Men were slightly older than women (53.1 ± 18.2 vs. 50.0 ± 15.6 years; p  < 0.01) and a higher percentage worked outside the home (73.1% vs. 51.9%, p  < 0.001). The mean serum concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)-D) was 23.3 ± 9.3 ng/ml in women and 20.9 ± 9.5 ng/ml in men ( p  < 0.001). The levels of 25(OH)-D by season were 26.7 ± 9.0, 23.6 ± 9.7, 19.4 ± 8.5, and 19.1 ± 9.5 ng/ml (for summer, fall, winter, and spring, respectively; p  < 0.05). The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency increases with age, rising from 36.5% under 40 years to 48.0% over 60 years ( p  < 0.004). Male sex, winter and spring, and age showed negative correlation with levels of 25(OH)-D ( p  < 0.05). Multivariate linear regression showed a final model that incorporates: age (coefficient: -0.06; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.09 to -0.03; p  < 0.001), male sex (coefficient: -2.00; 95% CI: -2.96 to -1.05; p  < 0.001), summer (coefficient: 7.30; 95% CI: 6.17 to 8.43; p  < 0.001), and fall (coefficient: 4.27; 95% CI: 3.04 to 5.50; p  < 0.001). Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency is more prevalent in men than in women, in the elderly, and during the winter and spring seasons.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate which risk factors in middle-aged women are associated with higher risk of multimorbidity in older age., Study Design: We conducted a prospective cohort study from 1990 to 1993 in Santiago de Chile, Chile among women aged 40-59 (at baseline). Diagnosed illnesses were retrieved from national health records in 2020., Main Outcome Measures: Clinical and laboratory evaluation was conducted., Results: 1066 women were followed-up for a mean of 27.8 years, after which 49.7% presented multimorbidity. These women, as compared with those without multimorbidity, were more likely at baseline to have had obesity (20.4% vs. 8.6%, p < 0.001); be post-menopause (47.2% vs. 40.5%; p < 0.03); have jobs that did not require a qualification (74.2% vs. 56.0%, p < 0.001); arterial hypertension (19.8% vs 14.4%, p < 0.018); lower HDL-cholesterol (51.3 ± 12.9 vs. 53.6±12.7 mg/dL, p < 0.005); and higher triglyceride levels (136.0 ± 65.0 vs. 127.0 ± 74.0 mg/dL, p = 0.028). Hypertension was associated in 22.0% of women with diabetes, in 20.9% with osteoarthritis and 14.0% with depression. Osteoarthritis was also associated with diabetes mellitus (8.3%) and depression (7.8%). Diabetes mellitus, in addition to hypertension and osteoarthritis, was associated with depression (6.4%). In a logistic regression model, we observed that obesity in middle-aged women was the strongest risk factor for multimorbidity in the elderly (OR: 2.48; 95% CI, 1.71-3.61), followed by having a job that did not require a qualification (OR: 2.18; 95% CI, 1.67-2.83) and having a low HDL-cholesterol level (OR: 1.31; 95% CI, 1.02-1.68)., Conclusions: Multimorbidity was highly prevalent in this older female population. Obesity in middle-aged women was the strongest risk factor for multimorbidity at older age. These results are relevant for Chile and other countries with similar population profiles., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of different risk factors on long-term mortality in middle-aged women., Methods: Women who received preventive health care control between 1990 and 1993 were recruited. Anamnesis and physical examination were recorded. Blood samples for the measurement of glycemia and lipids were taken. Data are reported as of December 2017., Results: We studied 1197 women aged between 40 and 60 years. We observed 183 deaths (survival 84.0%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 81.7-86.1, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis). The main causes of death were cancer (39.9%; 95% CI, 32.7-47.1), cardiovascular disease (22.9%; 95% CI, 16.8-29.1), infectious disease (13.7%; 95% CI, 8.6-18.7), other causes (7.1%, 95% CI, 3.4-10.9), and unspecified cause (6.6%; 95% CI, 2.9-10.2). The final Cox regression model showed the following hazard ratios for mortality: diabetes mellitus 2.51 (95% CI, 1.40-4.51), history of fracture 2.47 (95% CI, 1.15-5.30), history of heart illness 2.06 (95% CI, 1.15-3.72), arterial hypertension 1.51 (95% CI, 1.08-2.11), age 1.07 (95% CI, 1.04-1.10), body mass index 1.06 (95% CI, 1.02-1.09), and sexual intercourse 0.94 (95% CI, 0.89-0.98). Lipid disorders did not reach statistical significance as a risk factor., Conclusion: Diabetes, a history of fractures, and cardiovascular risk factors, except lipids, are markers of long-term mortality in middle-aged women. Physicians should pay special attention to these risk factors.

Objective: The aim was to study whether the seasonal variation of vitamin D [25(OH)-D or calcidiol] is similar or different in younger and older women living in a southern country., Methods: Measurement of serum 25(OH)-D concentration in 739 Chilean women aged 20 to 87 years, residents of Santiago (latitude: 33.4° South) who, during a routine gynaecological checkup, agreed to be evaluated., Results: The mean serum concentration of 25(OH)-D for the group was 24.1 ± 10.5 ng/mL. In women 20 to 39 years, the mean was significantly different from the mean of the ≥60 years old group (25.8 ± 10.6 ng/mL vs 23.9 ± 11.1 ng/mL; P < 0.02). Globally, 38.4% of participants had vitamin D deficiency and 36.1% insufficiency. A deficiency was present in 28.4% of the 20 to 39 years old, and in 43.9% in the ≥60 years old group (P < 0.004). In the whole group, a lower proportion (P < 0.0001) of vitamin D deficiency cases in the youngest women occurred during the summer (23.7%) in comparison to the winter (47.7%). It was observed that the proportion of participants in the 20 to 39 years old group with vitamin D deficiency fell from 48.9% in winter to 4.9% in summer (P = 0.0001). In the older groups, this change (less deficiency) is progressively smaller, 51.2% to 27.6% (P = 0.0020) in women 40 to 59 years old, and it does not happen in women ≥60 years (40% with vitamin D deficiency)., Conclusions: Serum vitamin D deficiency [25(OH)-D or calcidiol] is highly prevalent in Santiago, especially in older women (≥60 y) throughout the year. In contrast, in younger women (<40 y), the vitamin D deficiency tends to disappear during summer. More epidemiological studies and targeted prevention actions on vitamin D deficiency are warranted.

Objective: This study evaluated whether low bone density, a condition related to aging, is associated with low muscle mass, a surrogate for sarcopenia, and whether it could be used as a marker of the condition., Methods: We studied 483 women aged 35 to 69 years old who appeared healthy and attended a preventive gynecological examination. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to measure bone mineral density (BMD) and regional body composition. BMD was assessed using the T-score. Low appendicular lean mass (aLM) adjusted by height (aLM index) was defined according to Baumgartner et al (<5.45 kg/m). The association of low aLM index with bone mass was evaluated with a binary logistic regression using a cutoff point on the receiver operating characteristic curves for the T-score of -1.5., Results: The participants had a mean age of 54.7 ± 9.1 years, body mass index of 24.6 ± 3.6 kg/m, aLM index of 5.9 ± 0.6 kg/m (22.6% showed sarcopenia), abdominal fat percentage of 44.0 ± 9.1%, and T-score of -0.48 ± 0.97. In the logistic regression model, we found that low BMD implied a significant risk for sarcopenia (odds ratio [OR] 1.77; 95% CI, 1.02-3.06). In contrast, excess body weight was a protective factor (OR 0.12; 95% CI, 0.06-0.25). Neither age nor abdominal fat percentage, however, influenced the likelihood of sarcopenia in these women., Conclusions: A BMD T-score below -1.5 suggests low muscle mass in middle-aged women, which is a central element in the diagnosis of sarcopenia. Early diagnosis provides the opportunity to introduce preventive and therapeutic options.