Geographic and Seasonal Variation of Vitamin D: A Retrospective Study in Two Centers of Nepal

Background: Vitamin D deficiency is a common problem in many countries throughout the world. This study aimed at understanding the status of vitamin D deficiency in relation to age, gender, geography and season among relatively bigger numbers of population residing in central and western regions of Nepal.Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out by reviewing the records of vitamin D tests in two centers of Nepal- namely united reference laboratories at Pokhara and Chitwan Medical College at Chitwan. A total of 3320 individuals who were tested for clinical suspicion of vitamin D deficiency over a period of one year were included in the study. Results: Mean vitamin D level was 18.7 ng/mL. Majority of subjects tested for vitamin D were females (71.36 %) with female to male ratio of 2.49:1. Hypovitaminosis D (? 30 ng/mL) was found in 84.5% subjects and was moderate to severely deficit (