Vitamin D deficiency as an indicator of asthma in children in developing countries: A meta-analysis

• Main Authors: Sabellon, Benz Arielle T., Souza, Maria Patricia Micaela Y., Viceral, Camille Maxine Anne B.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2023
• Subjects: Asthma in children; Vitamin D deficiency; Biology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdb_bio/24; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdb_bio/article/1025/viewcontent/2023_Sabellon_Souza_Viceral_Vitamin_D_deficiency_as_an_indicator_of_asthma_Full_text.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

Bronchial asthma, often known as asthma, is a chronic inflammatory disease of the respiratory system and research have demonstrated that vitamin D deficiency is associated with the occurrence of asthma in children. Moreover, studies show that 25(OH)D serum levels are considerably lower in asthmatic children. The focus of this study is to examine the association and underlying effect of vitamin D deficiency and asthma in children in developing countries. The PRISMA-2020 guidelines and protocols were utilized for the purpose of the study. Studies acquired were limited to cross-sectional and case-control studies conducted in countries characterized by the United Nations Development Programme as having “low human development”. Risk of Bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. The standardized mean differences (SMD) and odds ratio (OR) were calculated with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Heterogeneity testing was conducted using Egger’s test and meta-regression. There were five observational studies in all that included 1,775 participants that were examined. Vitamin 25(OH)D levels had a pooled standardized mean difference that was statistically significant (SMD: -1.19, 95%; CI: -2.27 to -0.11; p-value = 0.0371). Between asthmatic and non-asthmatic children, the pooled odds ratio for the likelihood that asthmatic children will be vitamin D deficient was not statistically significant (OR: 2.93, 95%; CI 0.78 to 11.09; p-value = 0.1142). Both pooled effects exhibited a high degree of heterogeneity. The underlying cause of the external bias observed in this meta-analysis was not revealed by heterogeneity testing. This study revealed that there is an association between vitamin D insufficiency and asthma in children in developing countries with children with asthma having lower vitamin 25(OH)D levels than those without. Moreover, analysis revealed that children with asthma were three times more likely to be vitamin D insufficient. The broad confidence interval, on the other hand, suggested inconclusive results.