Abstract:

Objective    To assess the correlation of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) and the quality of life in middle-aged and older people. Methods    A total of 167 middle-aged and older people, from 45 to 85 years old with a mean age of 61.02±10.06 in Jinan institutions, were recruited from September to November 2009. Serum 25OHD was categorized into 3 groups: <49.9nmol/L as the insufficient group, 50-74.9nmol/L as the borderline group, and ≥75nmol/L as the normal group. Serum 25OHD levels were measured by ELISA and the SF36 form was adopted to investigate the quality of life. Results    The mean 25OHD concentration was (54.21±19.88)nmol/L, while Vitamin D was detected as normal in 18.0% of the population. The 25OHD  concentration of females and males were (58.13±19.07)nmol/L and (51.24±20.07) nmol/L， respectively. The difference was significant (P<0.05). The 25OHD concentration of people below and above 60 yrs old were (58.82±19.34) and (49.54±19.43) nmol/L， respectively. The difference was also significant(P<0.01). People with insufficient vitamin D received lower scores than the other two groups in seven dimensions: physical functioning (PF), role-physical (RP), bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality （VT）, social functioning （SF）, and mental health (MH) (P<0.05). Positive correlation between Vitamin D and the scores ofthe quality of life was found by Pearson analysis(P<0.05). Stepwise multiple linear regression showed that vitamin D was the main factor affecting the quality of life. Conclusion    25OHD insufficiency is prevalent in middleaged and older people, especially in the elderly and females. Lower serum 25OHD concentration in middle-aged and older people are associated with poorer quality of life. More attention should be paid to vitamin D supplementation in these populations.

Key words: Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D; SF36; Quality of life; Middleaged and older people