MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCE JOURNAL 2022 AUGUST VOL.6 (02)
Medical and Health Science Journal
Available at http://journal2.unusa.ac.id/index.php/MHSJ; DOI: 10.33086/mhsj.v6i2.3386
pISSN 2549-7588. eISSN 2549-7596
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Usage Of Vitamin D Supplements During Covid19 Pandemic In Baghdad City,
Iraq
Hasanain Faisal Ghazi1, Tiba Nezar Hasan2
1College of Nursing, Al-Bayan University, Baghdad, Iraq
2 Department of Dentistry, Al-Turath University College, Baghdad, Iraq.
ARTICLE INFO
Article history:
Received :
August 18, 2022
Received in revise form:
August 22, 2022
Accepted:
August 22, 2022
Keywords:
COVID19, Vitamin D
Supplements, Adults,
Baghdad.
*) Corresponding author:
Hasanain.f@albayan.edu.iq
ABSTRACT
Background: The aim of the current study is to determine vitamin D
supplement usage among adults living in Baghdad city, Iraq during
COVID19 pandemic.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 480 adults living
in Baghdad city, Iraq through convince sampling. An online administered
questionnaire was used to collect the data from respondents.
Results: Around two-thirds of respondents used Vitamin D supplements
(65%). There was a significant association between taking Vitamin D3
supplements and educational level, getting COVID19 infection with P
value of (0.01, <0.001, <0.001) respectively.
Conclusion: As a conclusion, two-thirds of our study respondents took
Vitamin D supplements during COVID19 pandemic. More education is
needed for population about the use of vitamin D in boosting immunity and
preventing infections.
Medical and Health Science Journal
http://journal2.unusa.ac.id/index.php/MHSJ
mailto:Hasanain.f@albayan.edu.iq
Ghazi et al MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCE JOURNAL 2022 AUGUST VOL.6 (02) Page 26 of 29
Introduction
The world is presently encountering its third
significant scourge of Covid (CoV) contaminations.
Another CoV contamination pestilence started in
Wuhan, Hubei, China, in late 2019, initially called
2019-nCoV1 and renamed Coronavirus by the
World Wellbeing Association on February 11,
2020. Past CoV pandemics incorporate extreme
intense respiratory disorder (SARS)- CoV, what
began in China in 2002 2, and the progressing
Center East respiratory condition (MERS)- CoV in
the Center East, first detailed in 2012.3
A few audits consider the manners by Vitamin D
has numerous systems by which it diminishes the
danger of microbial disease and demise. A study
with respect to the job of vitamin D in decreasing
the danger of the regular virus assembled those
instruments into three classes: actual boundary, cell
common invulnerability, and versatile resistance 4.
Vitamin D supplementation additionally upgrades
the outflow of qualities identified with antioxidation
(glutathione reductase and glutamate–cysteine
ligase modifier subunit).5
A recent study relates to the role of vitamin D in
reducing the risk of developing a cold by grouping
these mechanisms into three categories: physical
barrier, adaptive immunity, and cellular natural
immunity. 4 Adherent junctions, narrow junctions,
gap junctions. (For example, by E-cadherin).6 There
is many research looking on how to damage the
integrity of the connections, leading to an increase
in infection with the virus and other
microorganisms.7
Aim of the current study is to determine vitamin D3
supplement usage among adults in Baghdad city.
Methods
A cross-sectional study design was conducted
among 480 adults living in Baghdad city, Iraq. The
study period was from February till August 2021.
The questionnaire consisted of 17 questions, and it
consisted of three parts, where the first part include
social and demographic questions (age, gender,
marital status, occupation and educational level),
and the second part includ questions related to
Covid 19 infection (have you had Covid 19
infection before, in which A month I contracted
Covid, how many days did the infection last, did
you use medication, did you take preventive
measures), and the third part included questions
about vitamin D (did you take a blood test to find
out the level of vitamin D, 19- Have you ever taken
nutritional supplements or multivitamins that
Contains Vitamin D During the COVID-19
Pandemic How Long Have You Been Taking
Vitamin D Motivation to Start Taking Vitamin D.
The inclusion criteria were adults living in Baghdad
city Iraq who are willing to participate in the study
while exclusion criteria were people who do not
want to participate, People with mental problems.
Sampling method is convenience sampling (non-
probability).
Participation in the study is on voluntary bases.
Consent was taken from all the respondents. The
details will be used for research purpose only.
Ethics approval was taken from college of Nursing,
Al-Bayan University
Statistical Analysis
Data collected was analysed using Statistical
Package of Social Science (SPSS) version 24.0
Mean an SD was used for numerical variables
while frequency and percentage for categorical
variables, chi square test was used to test
association between variables.
Results
A total of 480 adults between the ages of 18 and 56
participated in the study. Table 1 describes
demographic data. The percentage of female
participants in the study was greater than males,
(59.8%). As for the social situation, the percentage
of unmarried people was (64.2%), while the
percentage of married people was (32.3%). As for
the job, the percentage of students was greater than
the employees, which amounted to (42.9%), while
the percentage of employees in the government
sector was (37.9%).
Table 1: Socio-demographic characteristics of
the respondents
N %
Gender
Male 287 59.8
Female 193 40.2
Marital Status
Married 155 32.3
Single 308 64.2
Divorced 17 3.5
Ghazi et al MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCE JOURNAL 2022 AUGUST VOL.6 (02) Page 27 of 29
Occupation
Housewife 18 3.8
Student 206 42.9
Government
Worker
182 37.9
Private Sector
Worker
16 3.3
Unemployed 58 12.1
Min Max Mean SD
Age 18 57 26.55 6.334
How long
infection last
1 60 13.79 8.092
Table 2 shows descriptive statistics, where it is
mentioned that the minimum age of the participant
in the study is (18) years. The oldest participants in
the study are 57 years old, with a mean age of
(26.55) years. The table also shows that the
percentage of university students was more than
high school students, where the percentage of
university students participating was (50.8%,) while
the percentage of high school students was (31.9).
Table 2: COVID 19 infection & management
history
Did you get covid19
N %
NO 269 56.0
YES 211 44.0
Which month got infected in 2020
March 25 5.2
April 19 4.0
May 18 3.8
June 19 4.0
July 31 6.5
August 18 3.8
September 24 5.0
October 22 4.6
November 19 4.0
December 16 3.3
Admission to hospital
no 188 39.2
yes 23 4.8
Use medication
no 28 5.8
yes 183 38.1
Use anticoagulant
no 169 35.2
yes 42 8.8
Use antibiotics
no 54 11.3
yes 157 32.7
Family member infected
no 276 57.5
yes 204 42.5
Family member died
no 461 96.0
yes 19 4.0
Table 3 shows the descriptive statistics of COVID
19. The percentage of people who were not infected
with Covid19 was higher than the infected people,
as the percentage of healthy people who were not
infected was (56.0%), while the percentage of
infected people was (44.0%). As for the period of
infection, the rate of infection in the month (7) was
the highest, reaching (6.5%). As for the people who
were admitted to the hospital and who were not
admitted, the percentage of people who did not go
to the hospital was more than those who were
admitted to the hospital, where their percentage was
(39.2%). As for people who took medical treatment,
their percentage was (38.1%), which is more than
those who did not take medical treatment (5.8%).
As for people who took anticoagulant, their
percentage reached (5.8%), which is much lower
than those who did not take anticoagulant, their
percentage reached (35.2%).
The proportion of people who took antibiotics was
higher (32.7%) than those in the study who did not
take, while the proportion of people who did not
take antibiotics (11.3%).
The percentage of answers to the question: Was a
family member infected, the answers were the
most? No family member was injured, where it was
(57.5%). As for the answers about the death of a
family member, the most answers were (96.0%) that
no family member died.
Table 4: Prevention control after infection &
Vitamin D
Safety after recovery
N %
NO 55 11.5
YES 425 88.5
Wearing the mask
NO 70 14.6
YES 410 85.4
Hand washing
NO 46 9.6
YES 434 90.4
Ghazi et al MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCE JOURNAL 2022 AUGUST VOL.6 (02) Page 28 of 29
VITAMIN D Blood test
NO 324 67.5
YES 156 32.5
Vitamin D Supplements before
NO 168 35.0
YES 312 65.0
Vit. D dosage
Do not
know
136 28.3
1000 IU 57 11.9
2000 IU 29 6.0
5000 IU 90 18.8
Vit D usage motivation
Internet 89 18.5
Doctor Advice 149 31.0
Friend 54 11.3
Family Member Takes It 20 4.2
Table 5: Association between gender, Covid-19 factors and Vitamin D Supplements usage
Vitamin D Supplements usage P value
No Yes
N (%) N (%)
Gender Male 112 (39.0) 175 (61.0) 0.024
Female 56 (29.0) 137 (71.0)
Did you get covid19 No 122 (45.4) 147 (54.6) <0.001*
Yes 46 (21.8) 165 (78.2)
Family member
infected
No 117 (42.4) 159 (57.6) <0.001*
Yes 51 (25.0) 153 (75.0)
Family member died No 166 (36.0) 295 (64.0) 0.022
Yes 2 (10.5) 17 (89.5)
*chi square test was performed, level of significant at p <0.05
Overall, these data refer to the use of prophylactics
and vitamin D3 in the daily lives of college students.
As for the use of prevention and wearing a mask,
the acceptance rate was significant (85.4%). The
rejection rate was very low (14.6%) As for the
students who used vitamin D3 and were not infected
with the Covid 19 virus, the percentage reached
(65.0%).
Discussion
The main findings of the current study are that two-
thirds of the respondents took Vitamin D
supplements during COVID19 pandemic in
Baghdad city, Iraq. The results showed that the
percentage of people who took vitamin D before
infection with Covid 19 was (65.0%), where the
percentage of males (61.0%) who take vitamin D
more than females. These results are consistent with
a study by 8(Annweiler et al., 2020). In the
intervention group, 82.5% (n=47).
Our results were supported by previous studies that
multivitamin supplements are quite prevalent
(64.2%) in the community of urban areas of
Bikaner. Our findings are quite comparable with
those of a National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey.9,10 Likewise, a study
conducted by Reinert et al. reported that about 40%
of the population were consumers of vitamin or
mineral supplements.11 The results also showed the
respondents’ high knowledge of preventive
measures, namely wearing a mask and using
sterilizers, in addition to the relationship of vitamin
D3 with social and occupational status, the results
showed that the percentage of unmarried people
was higher than non-married people (62.7%).
Ghazi et al MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCE JOURNAL 2022 AUGUST VOL.6 (02) Page 29 of 29
As for the job relationship, the percentage of the
housewife in taking vitamin D3 was more (83.3%).
As for education and its relationship to vitamin D3,
as we previously explained that the percentage of
knowledge most is among university students
(70.5%). The results also showed the number of
COVID-19 cases where the percentage of injuries
for those who took vitamin D3 (54.6%) was lower
compared to people who did not take vitamin D3,
and this confirms the role of vitamin D3 in
preventing Covid 19 disease. (P value < 0.001). As
for the familial deaths who took vitamin D3 as well,
it was low compared to the people who did not take
vitamin D3 before infection.
Similar to previous studies, in this study also
multiple reasons were mentioned by the participants
for using vitamin supplements.12 In our current
study, most of the respondents received knowledge
about the multivitamin supplements from their
physician (31.0.%). This finding is in accordance
with the research by (Guraya, 2018)13 who
concluded that knowledge about the multivitamin
supplements from their physician with (54.8%).
Conclusion
As a conclusion, Two-thirds of our study
respondents took Vitamin D supplements during
COVID19 pandemic. People at high risk of
developing vitamin D deficiency during this
pandemic should consider taking vitamin D
supplements. More education and promotion are
needed to educate people on the importance of
Vitamin D in enhancing the immunity and prevent
infection. We recommend that future studies to be
performed in other Provinces of Iraq and not only in
Baghdad and also to focus on COVI19 patients and
whether talking Vitamin D had benefit them.
Acknowlegment
The financing is obtained independently
Conflicts of Interest
There are no conflicts of interest declared by the
author.
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