Prevalence of Vitamin D Insufficiency among the Elderly Males Living in the Urban Areas of Khon Kaen Province in the Northeast of Thailand
Suppasin Soontrapa MD*, Sukree Soontrapa MD**, Sakda Chaikitpinyo MD*
Affiliation : * Department of Orthopaedics, Faculty Of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand ** Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Background : Vitamin D insufficiency among the elderly Thai women in the urban areas was higher than in the rural areas
because of lifestyle differences. There are very few studies about vitamin D status among Thai elderly males.
Objective : To ascertain the vitamin D status in and prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency among the elderly Thai males living
in the urban areas of Khon Kaen province, situated in Northeast, Thailand.
Results : The respective mean (SE) of calcidiol, β-CTx and PINP level for the elderly Thai males were 42.04 (1.22), 0.26 (0.02)
and 37.39 (2.19) ng/mL. A calcidiol level under 40 ng/mL indicated vitamin D insufficiency and the prevalence of the elderly
Thai males living in urban area of Khon Kaen province, Thailand was 48%. The respective correlations between PTH and
calcidiol, β-CTx and PINP were -0.217, 0.640 and 0.393. The respective correlations between PTH and BMD of the
trochanteric region and total femur were 0.198 and 0.199 (p < 0.05).
Conclusion : The prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency among the elderly males in Khon Kaen remained high and the bone
biochemical markers were at a low enough level to cause low bone turnover and low BMD.
Keywords : Calcidiol, Elderly males, Vitamin D Insufficiency, Urban
