Vitamin D status in active duty Navy military personnel: a systematic review
Occup Environ Med . 2023 Apr 3;oemed-2022-108710. doi: 10.1136/oemed-2022-108710
Moisés Henriques 1 2, Diogo Rodrigues 3, Susana Viegas 2, Florentino Serranheira 2, Ema Sacadura-Leite 2 4
Objectives: Active duty Navy military personnel are prone to vitamin D deficiency due to an occupational environment detrimental to sunlight exposure. The main objective of this systematic review is to provide a worldwide overview of vitamin D status in this population.
Methods: The Condition, Context, Population (CoCoPop) mnemonic was used to define the inclusion criteria (vitamin D status; all contexts; active duty Navy military personnel). Studies with recruits or veterans were excluded. Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed/Medline databases were searched from inception to 30 June 2022. Joanna Briggs Institute and Downs & Black checklists were used for quality assessment and data were synthesised in narrative and tabular formats.
Results: Thirteen studies published between 1975 and 2022 and conducted in northern hemisphere Navies, including mainly young and male service members, were included. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was globally reported as significant. Nine studies included a total of 305 male submariners who performed 30-92 days submarine patrol and reported the effect of sunlight deprivation in the decrease of vitamin D levels.
Conclusions: This new systematic review underlines the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in the Navy, especially in submariners, and the need to implement measures to prevent vitamin D deficiency. Serum 25(OH)D data available and the heterogeneity of the studies limited a pooled analysis. Most studies included only submariners, which may limit generalisability to all active duty Navy military personnel. Further research on this topic should be promoted.
Prospero registration number: CRD42022287057.
No such attachment on this page
See also VitaminDWiki
- 2000 IU daily raised vitamin D levels by 5 nanograms while on submarine patrol – July 2014
- Submariners vitamin D levels continued to drop while on patrol (no surprise) – Dec 2013
- 1700 IU vitamin D (50000 monthly) helped antarctic explorers – RCT Jan 2012
- Simulated Mars trip ran low on vitamin D (no supplements, no UV) – Sept 2019
- NASA might save 700,000 dollars a day by giving astronauts enough Vitamin D
- Take the supplement of the astronauts
- The only supplement NASA gives crews is vitamin D - Sept 2015
- But, apparently did not give Vitamin D during the MARS simulation
- People who get little noon-day sun must supplement with Vitamin D – systematic review June 2017
- Recommended increasing vitamin D for space flight – NASA Sept 2013