Vitamin D insufficiency and hyperparathyroidism in a low income, multiracial, elderly population

This report examines the wintertime vitamin D and PTH status of 308 partici pants in the Boston Low Income Elderly Osteoporosis Study of noninstitution alized low income elderly men and women (age, 64-100 yr) Living in subsidiz ed housing in Boston, MA. Twenty-one percent of the 136 black subjects and 11% of the 110 whites had very low plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) conce ntrations (<25 nmol/L), and 73% of the blacks and 35% of the whites had 25O HD concentrations less than 50 nmol/L. The mean 25OBD levels of the smaller Hispanic and Asian subsets were generally similar to those of the white su bjects. In addition to race, significant predictors of 25OHD included vitam in D intake (positive association) and smoking (inverse association), but n ot sex or age. Low 25OHD concentrations were associated with increased PTH and reduced serum calcium. The PTH level in the black subjects was substant ially higher than that in the white subjects, and this difference was only partially explained by the racial difference in 25OHD. Elderly individuals who live in northern areas, particularly African-Americans, should be stron gly encouraged to increase their vitamin D intake, especially in winter.