Preterm Birth 2.7X more likely if low vitamin D (dark skin in this case)

Vitamin D Status as an Important Predictor of Preterm Birth in a Cohort of Black Women

Nutrients 2023, 15(21), 4637; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15214637

by Jennifer Woo 1,2,*ORCID,Thomas Guffey 3,Rhonda Dailey 4ORCID,Dawn Misra 5 and Carmen Giurgescu 6

Vitamin D deficiency (25 (OH)D < 20 ng/mL) is a modifiable risk factor that has been associated with an increased risk of preterm birth (PTB) (<37 weeks gestation). Black women are at a high risk for vitamin D deficiency due to higher melanin levels. Vitamin D sufficiency may be protective against PTB risk in Black women. Black participants between 8 and 25 weeks of gestation were included in this nested case–control study. The sample consisted of women who had either PTBs (n = 57) or term births, were selected based on maternal age compared to those who had PTBs (n = 118), and had blood samples available between 8 and 25 weeks of gestation. The women completed questionnaires about depressive symptoms and smoking behavior and had blood collected to determine their vitamin D levels. Gestational age at birth, hypertensive disorders, and body mass index (BMI) were collected from the medical records.

The odds of PTB were increased by 3.34 times for participants with vitamin D deficiency after adjusting for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and depressive symptoms. Vitamin D assessment and supplementation may be an important intervention for preventing PTB in pregnant Black women.

📄 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

Adjusted odds ratio clipped from PDF

Vitamin D showed a slightly weaker effect ( OR = 2.74 , 95% CI: 1.35–5.54) after propensity score weights were applied to account for maternal age, gestational age at blood draw, and confounders (depressive symptoms and HDP). However, the overall results are similar among all three logistic regression models.

VitaminDWiki - studies in both categories Dark-Skin and Pregnancy

This list is automatically updated

{category}

Whites with low Vitamin D have similar health problems as Blacks Grant Feb 2021

Low Vitamin D increases health problems - independent of skin color

{include}