Korean J Hosp Palliat Care.  2015 Jun;18(2):120-127. 10.14475/kjhpc.2015.18.2.120.

Relationship between Vitamin D Level and Survival in Terminally Ill Cancer Patients

• Choi SY
• Choi YS
• Hwang IC
• Lee JY

• KMID: 2305261
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14475/kjhpc.2015.18.2.120

Abstract

PURPOSE
We aimed to investigate how serum vitamin D levels are related to survival of terminally ill cancer patients.
METHODS
From May 2012 through June 2013, a retrospective chart review was performed on 96 hospice patients. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with severe vitamin D deficiency and Coxcy and Coxional hazard analyses were used to evaluate effects on survival.
RESULTS
The mean vitamin D level in patients was 8.60+/-7.16 ng/ml. Vitamin D was severely deficient (<10 ng/ml) in 75 patients (78.2%), deficient (10~20 ng/ml) in 13 patients (13.5%), relatively insufficient (21~29 ng/ml) in five patients (8.3%) and sufficient ((t ng/ml) in three patients (3.1%). Hyperbilirubinemia (> or =1.2 g/dl) was the only factor associated with severe vitamin D deficiency according to the multiple logistic regression analysis (Odds ratio, OR=18.48, P<0.05). Although hyperbilirubinemia showed a strong association with survival (Hazard ratio, HR=2.25, P<0.01), no association was found between severe vitamin D deficiency and survival (HR=1.15, P>0.05) in Cox's proportional hazard analysis.
CONCLUSION
Although serum vitamin D levels were severely low in terminally ill cancer patients, we found no association between severe vitamin D deficiency and patient survival.

Keyword

Vitamin D; Terminal care; Survival analysis; Hospices

MeSH Terms

Hospices
Humans
Hyperbilirubinemia
Logistic Models
Retrospective Studies
Survival Analysis
Terminal Care
Terminally Ill*
Vitamin D Deficiency
Vitamin D*
Vitamin D