Vitamin D concentrations in New Zealanders with and without inflammatory bowel disease: do they differ?

Aim: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) are at risk of low vitamin D owing to reduced absorption, medication-associated sunlight exposure restrictions and/or increased requirements due to inflammation. This study aimed to determine if the serum vitamin D concentration of New Zealand IBD patients relates to disease activity and differs from controls.

Method: Data concerning demographics, sunlight exposure, vitamin D supplementation and disease activity were collected using a retrospective questionnaire.