Do we need vitamin D screening and supplementation in critically ill patients

Vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency affects about 30% of children and 60% of adults across the world (1). This condition also occurs in about 70% of critically ill patients (2). Although vitamin D is typically known as a fat-soluble vitamin in bone metabolism, it is a steroid hormone with pleiotropic effects (3). Vitamin D deficiency can lead to cardiovascular, neurological, and autoimmune diseases and different types of cancers, including the breast, prostate, lung, colon, and renal cancers. Accordingly, this deficiency has a direct correlation with mortality