Costs of vitamin D testing and prescribing among children in primary care

Vitamin D has attracted considerable interest in recent years, with a marked increase in diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency seen among children in clinical practice in the UK. The economic implications of this change in diagnostic behaviour have not been explored. We performed a cohort study to examine longitudinal trends in healthcare expenditure arising from vitamin D testing and prescribing for children in primary care in England, using the electronic healthcare records of 722,525 children aged 0–17 years held in The Health Improvement Network database. Combined costs of vitamin D tests and prescriptions increased from £1647 per 100,000 person-years in 2008 (95% CI, £934 to £3007) to £28,913 per 100,000 person-years in 2014 (95% CI, £26,361 to £31,739). The total cost of vitamin D prescriptions and tests for children in primary care at the national level in England in 2014 was estimated to be £4.31 million (95% CI, £2.96–£6.48 million). CONCLUSION: There has been a marked increase in healthcare expenditure on vitamin D tests and prescriptions for children in primary care over the past decade. Future research should explore the drivers for this change in diagnostic behaviour and the reasons prompting investigation of vitamin D status in clinical practice

Trends in the Diagnosis of Vitamin D Deficiency

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D has attracted considerable interest in recent years, and health care providers have reported large increases in vitamin D test requests. However, rates of diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency in clinical practice have not been investigated. We examined trends in diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency in children in England over time, and by sociodemographic characteristics. METHODS: Cohort study using primary care records of 711 788 children aged 0 to 17 years, from the Health Improvement Network database. Incidence rates for diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency were calculated per year between 2000 and 2014. Rate ratios exploring differences by age, sex, ethnicity, and social deprivation were estimated using multivariable Poisson regression. RESULTS: The crude rate of vitamin D deficiency diagnosis increased from 3.14 per 100 000 person-years in 2000 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.31-7.54) to 261 per 100 000 person-years in 2014 (95% CI, 241-281). After accounting for changes in demographic characteristics, a 15-fold (95% CI, 10-21) increase in diagnosis was seen between 2008 and 2014. Older age (≥10 years), nonwhite ethnicity, and social deprivation were independently associated with higher rates of diagnosis. In children aged <5 years, diagnosis rates were higher in boys than girls, whereas in children aged ≥10 they were higher in girls. CONCLUSIONS: There has been a marked increase in diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency in children over the past decade. Future research should explore the drivers for this change in diagnostic behavior and the reasons prompting investigation of vitamin D status in clinical practice

Altered peripheral blood monocyte phenotype and function in chronic liver disease:Implications for hepatic recruitment and systemic inflammation

Background and Aim