Vitamin D Testing

February 2009

Who Should Be Tested?

The following should be tested for Vitamin D deficiency:

• Individuals receiving therapy to prevent or treat osteoporosis.
• Elderly people, especially those with minimal exposure to sunlight.
• Patients with signs and symptoms of hypocalcemia or hypercalcemia.
• Children and adults with suspected rickets and osteomalacia, respectively.
• Patients receiving vitamin D therapy who do not demonstrate clinical improvement.

Patient Impact

Vitamin D deficiency testing results in potential impacts:

• Establishes the need for replacement therapy and guides appropriate treatment, avoiding undermedicating the patient.
• Overtreatment can also be detected, but it is rare--occurring only with long-term replacement at doses of almost 10,000 U/day or more.

Benefits of Testing

Vitamin D definiency testing provides:

• Reliable assessment of vitamin D stores.