Vitamin D Levels in People with Intellectual Disability in Long-Stay Hospital Wards in Bahrain

vitamins are essential for normal growth and development all throughout life. Vitamin D levels (25 OH vitamin D) were measured in 62 patients with intellectual disabilities in the Psychiatric Hospital, Bahrain (32 long stay in-patients and 30-comparison group of outpatients). There is growing evidence in the literature that persons with intellectual disabilities are at risk of developing vitamin D deficiency. Low vitamin D is often attributed to lack of sunshine, poor dietary intake and the deleterious effect of some medications. The results of the study showed that the serum levels of vitamin D were significantly lower in woman when compared with men in the current sample and for the in-patients and outpatients subgroups. As expected, the results of the current study confirmed that outpatients showed higher levels of serum vitamin D than the long stay in-patients did. Sunshine exposure was virtually non-existent for most in-patients.