Low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 are associated with greater disease severity.

OBJECTIVES: Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) has been proposed to play a role in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pathophysiology. We aim to evaluate our implementation of a local protocol for treatment of VDD among patients hospitalized for COVID-19; to assess the prevalence of VDD among COVID-19 inpatients, and examine potential associations with disease severity and fatality. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: We conducted a retrospective interim audit of a local clinical care pathway for 134�inpatients with COVID-19. Prevalence of VDD, compliance with�local treatment protocol and relationship of baseline serum 25(OH)D with markers of COVID-19 severity and fatality were analysed. RESULTS: 55.8% of eligible patients received Colecalciferol replacement, albeit not all according to the suggested protocol. Patients admitted to ITU were younger than those managed on medical wards (61.1 years � 11.8 vs. 76.4 years � 14.9, respectively, p\u003c0.001), with greater prevalence of hypertension, higher baseline respiratory rate, National Early Warning Score-2 and C-Reactive protein level. While mean serum 25(OH)D levels were comparable (p=0.3), only 19% of ITU patients had 25(OH)D levels greater than 50 nmol/L vs. 39.1% of non-ITU patients (p=0.02). However, there was no association with fatality, potentially due to small sample size and prompt diagnosis and treatment of VDD. CONCLUSIONS: Higher prevalence of VDD was observed in patients requiring ITU admission compared to patients managed on medical wards. Larger prospective studies and/or clinical trials are needed to validate and extend our observations.