P70 ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN VITAMIN D LEVELS AMONG PATIENTS WITH TUBERCULOSIS IN SOUTH-EAST LONDON

¹J. K. Randhawa, ²V. Kahr, ³F. A. Post, ¹R. D. Barker, ²H. J. Milburn. ¹King’s College Hospital, London, UK, ²St Thomas’ Hospital, London, UK, ³Academic Department of HIV/GU Medicine, King’s College London, London, UK

Introduction and Objectives Vitamin D deficiency may be associated with tuberculosis (TB) disease; this relationship remains ill-defined. Somalis represent a significant proportion of our TB workload, hence we have an interest in this group. We carried out a retrospective analysis of vitamin D levels in patients with TB to determine any associations between age, gender, disease site or ethnicity.

Methods Patients with TB at two hospitals in south-east London from January 2004 to January 2009 were analysed. Vitamin D levels taken within 1 month of TB diagnosis were included. Patients were categorised by country of birth: Somalia, Africa (not Somalia), south Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka) and the rest of the world. Data collected included age, gender, disease site and HIV status.

Results We identified 1190 patients, with complete data in 195 (16.4%). There were 36 (18.5%) patients from Somalia, 63 (32.3%) from Africa (not Somalia), 26 (13.3%) from south Asia and 70 (35.9%) from the rest of the world. All groups had deficient levels of vitamin D (<60 ng/ml); these were significantly lower in those from Somalia and south Asia compared with Africa (not Somalia) or the rest of the world (p<0.001, fig 1). Levels of vitamin D were similar between men and women. There was a suggestion of a U-shaped relationship between vitamin D levels and age (p = 0.21). There was no significant difference in vitamin D levels in patients with pulmonary TB (mean 12.9 ng/ml) compared with extrapulmonary TB (mean 11.3 ng/ml). There was no association between vitamin D level and HIV status.