Increase of vitamin D assays prescriptions and associated factors: a population-based cohort study

• Published in: Scientific reports 2017-09, Vol.7 (1), p.10361-7, Article 10361
• Main Authors: Caillet, Pascal, Goyer-Joos, Anne, Viprey, Marie, Schott, Anne-Marie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 25-Hydroxyvitamin D; 692/308/174; 692/700/478/174; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biomarkers; Blood Chemical Analysis - methods; Blood Chemical Analysis - standards; Blood Chemical Analysis - statistics & numerical data; Child; Child, Preschool; Cohort analysis; Cohort Studies; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; France - epidemiology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Life Sciences; Male; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Population studies; Population-based studies; Prescriptions - standards; Prescriptions - statistics & numerical data; Public Health Surveillance - methods; Santé publique et épidémiologie; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Vitamin D; Vitamin D - analogs & derivatives; Vitamin D - blood; Vitamin D Deficiency - blood; Vitamin D Deficiency - epidemiology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-10263-8

A worldwide increase in the frequency of testing for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels has been observed over the last years. Our aim was to measure the evolution in the number of vitamin D assays performed in France from 2008 to 2013 and to investigate some of the drivers that may explain this increase. Patients within the representative 1/97th sample of the French health insurance system reimbursement database ( EGBS database) who had at least one 25OHD or 1-25(OH) 2 D assay between 2008 and 2013 were included. Trends over time in number of vitamin D assays were analysed globally and per year in a multivariable Poisson regression model with GEE. Among the 639,163 patients of the EGBS database, 118,509 (18.5%) had at least one vitamin D assay over the 6-year study period. Among the individuals tested, 52.1% had only one test. The number of vitamin D assays (25OHD or 1-25(OH) 2 D) increased 7.5-fold from 9,620 in 2008 to 81,641 in 2013. This study confirms the rapid and dramatic increase in vitamin D assays prescriptions and shows that this is mostly due to a global increase of the proportion of patients tested rather than an increase in repetition of tests in some individual patients.