{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T04:55:07Z","timestamp":1781672107283,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781654400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: Vitamin D deficiency is a pervasive public health issue in high-latitude regions, yet large-scale population data for the Baltic states remain sparse. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of vitamin D status and identify its primary determinants within a primary care setting in Lithuania. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations from 14,330 unique patients (aged 1\u2013101 years) collected during 2025 at a major clinic in Vilnius. Vitamin D status was categorized according to the Central and Eastern European Expert Consensus thresholds. Results: The overall median 25(OH)D concentration was 68.3 nmol\/L, placing it in the \u201cinsufficiency\u201d range (50\u201375 nmol\/L). Seasonality emerged as the most significant predictor of deficiency; multivariable logistic regression showed a maximal risk reduction in September (OR 0.33; 95% CI: 0.27\u20130.41) and August (OR 0.34) compared to January, while June and November provided no significant protection. Age-specific analysis revealed a non-linear \u201cU-shaped\u201d distribution: children aged 0\u20136 years had the highest levels (median ~87\u201391 nmol\/L), likely due to rickets prophylaxis, whereas adolescents (12\u201318 years) exhibited the highest vulnerability, with approximately 80% suffering from deficiency or insufficiency. Males faced a 13.9% higher likelihood of deficiency than females (OR 1.14; p = 0.0036), potentially due to lower rates of elective supplementation. Conclusions: These findings suggest that current supplementation strategies successfully protect infants but fail to sustain adequacy through adolescence and adulthood, particularly during the \u201cvitamin D winter.\u201d Targeted public health interventions for adolescents and year-round monitoring are recommended to mitigate the high prevalence of suboptimal vitamin D status in Lithuania.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina62061172","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T03:27:21Z","timestamp":1781666841000},"page":"1172","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Determinants of Vitamin D Status: An Analysis in a Primary Care Setting in Lithuania of Age, Gender and Seasonality"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"62","author":[{"given":"Beata","family":"Martinkien\u0117","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M.K. Ciurlionio 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5079-6586","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Benedikt","family":"Bachmetjev","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M.K. Ciurlionio 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rima","family":"Pili\u010diauskien\u0117","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M.K. Ciurlionio 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania"},{"name":"Karoliniskiu Clinic, L. Asanaviciutes St. 27a, LT-04318 Vilnius, Lithuania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gintar\u0117","family":"Sragauskien\u0117","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Karoliniskiu Clinic, L. Asanaviciutes St. 27a, LT-04318 Vilnius, Lithuania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cui, A., Zhang, T., Xiao, P., Fan, Z., Wang, H., and Zhuang, Y. (2023). Global and Regional Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency in Population-Based Studies from 2000 to 2022: A Pooled Analysis of 7.9 Million Participants. Front. Nutr., 10.","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2023.1070808"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"138","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsbmb.2013.11.003","article-title":"Is Vitamin D Deficiency a Major Global Public Health Problem?","volume":"144","author":"Palacios","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Steroid Biochem. Mol. 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