Vitamin D Deficiency and its Risk Factors among Adults in Sharg El-Nile Locality 2022-2023: A cross-sectional study at Primary Health care Centers

Background Vitamin D significantly affects the musculoskeletal, endocrine, immunological, and cardiovascular systems. An estimated one billion persons globally present with hypovitaminosis D, according to current recorded data, indicating a global pandemic. In this study, we investigated vitamin D Deficiency and its Risk Factors among Adults at Primary Health care Centers in Sharg El-Nile Locality 2022–2023. Methods This is a cross-sectional facility-based study conducted during the period from December 2022 to May 2023, in nine Primary health care centers (PHC) in Sharg El-Nile locality, Bahri, Sudan. Participants were randomly selected from adults attending these nine healthcare centers during the study period. The following categories were excluded: known cases of vitamin D deficiency, Adults taking supplements because supplements contain up to 400 IU of vitamin D, Pregnant Females attending for ANC, adults with recent fractures, recent major surgery, and chronic kidney disease as they take vitamin D regularly. The calculated sample size was 242 patients. Direct interviewing questionnaire used then participants tested for Vitamin D level. Data were processed using the SPSS version 26. Results Out of 242 participants, the majority (48.8%) were in the age group of 40–59 years, with females constituting 62.4%. Vitamin D deficiency prevalence was 63.6%, while insufficiency reported in 31%, and sufficient vitamin D reported in only 5.4% of participants. Participants aging 40–59 years and females had significantly higher frequency of Vit-D deficiency compared to others (P values: 0.042 and 0.003, respectively). Vitamin D deficiency was significantly associated with less consumption of milk (P value = 0.039) and tuna (P = 0.041), as well as inadequate Sun exposure. BMI, education level, frequency of exercise and smoking behaviour were not found to be associated with vitamin D deficiency (P value > 0.05). Conclusions Vitamin D deficiency was critically high prevalent among respondents, and it was significantly higher among females, and people aged 40–59 years. The factors, which contributed significantly to deficiency, included low intake of milk and tuna and low sun exposure.