investigating the prevalence and determinants of vitamin d deficiency in children with epilepsy treated with anticonvulsant drugs: an analytical cross-sectional study

Background: the potential risk factors for vitamin d deficiency in children with epilepsy, particularly those receiving antiseizure medications (asms), remain unclear.objectives: this study aimed to evaluate the determinants of 25-hydroxyvitamin d insufficiency in pediatric epileptic patients treated with asms. methods: this cross-sectional analytical study assessed the prevalence and predictive factors of vitamin d deficiency in 45 children aged 1 to 14 years with epilepsy who were treated with asms between 2020 and 2021. serum vitamin d levels were measured using the chemiluminescence method. levels below 30 ng/ml were defined as insufficient. results: forty-five epileptic children with a mean age of 6.31 ± 3.97 years were included in the study. the mean serum vitamin d level was 24.18 ng/ml, and 26 (57.7%) were identified as having vitamin d insufficiency. children with insufficient levels were significantly older (p = 0.002) and had received asms for a longer duration (p = 0.034). age was the only significant determinant of vitamin d insufficiency. receiver operating characteristic (roc) analysis showed that age effectively predicted vitamin d deficiency with an area under the curve (auc) of 0.754. conclusions: this study highlights a high prevalence of vitamin d insufficiency among epileptic children treated with asms, particularly in older age groups. regular monitoring of serum vitamin d levels, early diagnosis, timely treatment, and prophylactic supplementation are recommended to prevent complications.