Vitamin D Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Polish Medical Doctors
Nutrients 2021, 13(7), 2443; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13072443
by Wojciech Stefan Zgliczyński 1,*OrcID,Olga Maria Rostkowska 2OrcID and Beata Sarecka-Hujar 3OrcID
- Why are doctors reluctant to accept vitamin D
- Do not expect your doctor to know about vitamin D
- Why doctors are so reluctant to try new things like vitamin D
- 2000 IU of vitamin D- doctors trained that it was too much, but it is often too little
- Doctors: If you pick one vitamin, make it D (99 cent ebook) – Jan 2016
- Do not expect a doctor to recommend a pill which will eliminate his job (vitamin D)
- Doctors rarely (15 prcnt) talked about Vitamin D and with very little ambiguity (96 prcnt)– Aug 2016
Country Surveys
- Doctors have a lot to learn about Vitamin D (Polish doctors in this case) – July 2021
- Doctors not consistent on prescribing Vitamin D (Pakistan in this case) July 2018
- UK people and doctors still clueless about vitamin D – Survey Oct 2014
- UK survey of vitamin D knowledge of midwives - 2011
- Vitamin D survey of general practitioners in New Zealand – June 2013
- Dutch doctors still have a lot to learn about Vitamin D – survey Dec 2018
Controversies and Consensus
- Minimum National Vitamin D recommendations range from 200 to 4,000 IU – July 2021
- Controversies and consensus in Vitamin D – 3rd Conference Sept 2019
- Vitamin D supplementation guidelines (adults – 50,000 IU per week) – Feb 2017
- Seniors need at least 4,000 IU vitamin D, no test needed – Consensus Jan 2014
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Background Vitamin D deficiency occurs in as much as 90–95% of the Polish population, although this condition is known to cause negative long-term health implications. The role of medical doctors in advising proper supplementation, monitoring and correcting the levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in individuals is of great importance and should be used to help mitigate its common deficits. The aim of this study was to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and practices of Polish physicians regarding vitamin D supplementation in order to identify areas for improvement and determinants for the knowledge gaps. Methods The study group comprised 701 medical doctors aged 32.1 ± 5.3 years on average, mostly women (71.61%). An original survey questionnaire was developed for the purpose of the study.
Results The mean vitamin D knowledge score was 6.8 ± 2.3 (in a scale 0–13) and was related to gender (p < 0.001), type of specialization (p = 0.032), D3 supplements use (p < 0.001), recommending supplementation to patients (p = 0.005), to relatives and friends (p < 0.001) and to healthy adults (p < 0.001). In terms of self-administration, 14% of respondents take vitamin D all-year-round while 24% only in autumn and winter. 25% of respondents monitor their vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D) serum concentration. Most participants (61%) did not recommend supplementing vitamin D to their patients on a regular basis.
Conclusions The study indicates that medical doctors in Poland need to have more training and education on vitamin D supplementation in order to better address the problem of its deficits in the population