More Evidence for Checking Vitamin D Levels in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Low vitamin D levels have been implicated as a risk factor for worse disease course in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). To further examine this issue, investigators conducted a 5-year longitudinal study involving 965 IBD patients (62% with Crohn disease, 38% with ulcerative colitis).

Vitamin D deficiency was present in 8.9% of patients at study entry and was highest in young males. During the 5-year follow-up, patients with low vitamin D levels required significantly more steroids, biologic initiation, narcotics for pain control, computed tomography scans, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and surgery than did those with normal vitamin D levels. Patients with low vitamin D levels had no evidence of higher inflammatory markers, …