{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T16:26:11Z","timestamp":1787934371969,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,13]],"date-time":"2022-09-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1663027200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>OBJECTIVE: Hypovitaminosis D is prevalent in epidemic proportions in many developed countries. The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of adequate 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels in two Mediterranean countries, Greece and Cyprus. METHODS: Data such as 25(OH)D, the month of blood sample collection, and demographic information were blindly collected from 8780 Greek and 2594 Cypriot individuals over 5 years. Comorbidities were also recorded for 839 Greek subjects. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to examine the relationship between these variables and 25(OH)D levels. RESULTS: In the samples studied, 72.7% of the Greek and 69.3% of the Cypriot population sample had inadequate levels of 25(OH)D. The mean level for the Greek subjects was 25.1 ng\/mL and for Cypriots 25.8 ng\/mL. For both samples, only month and gender were significantly associated with 25(OH)D levels, and the highest mean levels were recorded in September. For the recorded diseases, the lowest levels were recorded in sickle cell anaemia 13.6 \u00b1 10.2 ng\/mL, autoimmune diseases 13.0 \u00b1 8.4 ng\/mL, and cancer 22.6 \u00b1 9.5 ng\/mL. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency is paradoxically high in both Mediterranean countries.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu14183778","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,13]],"date-time":"2022-09-13T22:37:28Z","timestamp":1663108648000},"page":"3778","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Could the Majority of the Greek and Cypriot Population Be Vitamin D Deficient?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Souzana E.","family":"Xyda","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical School Department, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2376-740X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kalliopi","family":"Kotsa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 1st Department of Internal Medicine, AHEPA Hospital, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Argyrios","family":"Doumas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology and Medical Informatics, AHEPA Hospital, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8497-6849","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emmanouil","family":"Papanastasiou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Medical Physics and Digital Innovation, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alexandros A.","family":"Garyfallos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"4th Department of Internal Medicine, Hippokration University Hospital, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"George","family":"Samoutis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University of Nicosia Medical School, Nicosia 2408, Cyprus"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"438","DOI":"10.4158\/EP09101.ORR","article-title":"Vitamin D for the treatment of infectious diseases: A systematic review","volume":"15","author":"Yamshchikov","year":"2009","journal-title":"Endocr. 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