Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and association with metabolic syndrome in a Qatari population

Background/Objectives Despite long hours of sunlight in Qatar and other regions of the Middle East, vitamin D deficiency has been rising. In parallel, the prevalence metabolic syndrome has also been increasing in Qatar. Vitamin D levels have been associated with metabolic syndrome but data are inconsistent and no studies have addressed these inter-relationships in a Middle Eastern population where the prevalence of these conditions is high. The objective is to investigate the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its association with metabolic syndrome and its components in the Qatar Biobank population. Subjects/Methods A cross-sectional study of 1 205 participants (702 women and 503 men) from the Qatar Biobank, comprising Qataris and non-Qataris between the ages of 18 to 80 years, was used to perform multivariate linear regression analyses to examine the association between metabolic syndrome and prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (defined as <20 ng/mL serum vitamin D levels) adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, season of blood collection, physical activity, and education. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for all analyses. Results Approximately 64% of participants were vitamin D deficient (