Impact of Dust Events on Vitamin D Effective UV-B Availability in Bahrain and Association with Population Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D

Abstract

Abstract: The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between dust and UV-B, and its effect on vitamin D synthesis in the body by analysing the trend of ground level solar UV-B irradiance measurements over the period from 2017-2022. In addition, the effect of dust events on UV-B irradiance over the period from 2017-2022 will also be investigated. Measurements of UV, temperature and humidity were obtained from the Meteorological Directorate. Manual UV-B calculation was done where 5% of the UV index was considered as UV-B. Dust particles at 1000m or less, 3000m or less and 5000m or less were obtained from the Meteorological Directorate, while vitamin D records of patients from 2017 to June 2022 were obtained from King Hamad University Hospital. The study included an investigation on healthy patients and patients with chronic diseases to identify whether a relationship exists between chronic diseases and vitamin D deficiency. A random sample of patients (10%) were selected out of the total of 16,239 to represent the patients with chronic diseases related to vitamin D deficiency. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 28). The method used was Pearson correlation to correlate numeric variables such as UV-B, number of vitamin D tests, deficient patients and dust levels at 1000m or less, 3000m or less, and 5000m or less. A comparison of dust levels at 1000m or less, 3000m or less, and 5000m or less for the years 2017 to 2022 revealed that as the altitude increases, the dust levels also increase. A medium positive correlation was found between dust levels at 1000m or less and dust levels at 5000m or less (r = 0.534, p