Vitamin D status in healthy postmenopausal Iranian women

Background: there are few epidemiologic studies on vitamin d status of postmenopausal women in the middle eastcountries. this study aimed to investigate the 25-hydroxyvitamin d levels in postmenopausal women living in thenorth-west of iran.methods: using the records of the local household registry, 300 cases were enrolled by simple random sampling. serum25-hydroxyvitamin d levels were determined by fully automated chemiluminescent immunoassay. in addition, thestudy included survey questions regarding age, body weight and height, use of supplements and skin protection agentsand clinical and reproductive histories.result: our cases had the mean age of 63.41 ± 4.64 years with menopause duration of 16.79 ± 6.15 years. median andinterquartile 25-75 range of vitamin d were 14.20 ng/ml and 7-37.2 ng/ml respectively. we found hypovitaminosis 0[25(oh) d < 10 ng/ml] in 38.3% of our cases. serum 25(oh) d concentrations were not significantly correlated withage or bmi.conclusion: these findings indicate that 25(oh) d levels in postmenopausal women of north-west iran are low. studiesto elucidate and assess the dietary intake of vitamin d in elderly women of this region can be of further benefit.