Knowledge, awareness and behaviour regarding vitamin D levels among dental students in South India: a cross-sectional survey

A multicentric online cross-sectional survey was conducted among dental students from various dental colleges in South India from March 2024 to January 2025. Demographic characteristics included age, sex, and current academic year followed by lifestyle characteristics like type of diet, duration and time exposure to direct sunlight on a working day, use of a cloth barrier or scarf or umbrella (yes / no), use of sunscreen (yes / no). Also, multiple questions were designed to assess the knowledge of the individual vitamin D levels. They were “Have you ever been asked to check your vitamin D levels?” (yes / no), and “Have you ever checked your vitamin D levels?” (yes / no). “If yes, do you know your current vitamin D levels? (yes / no)”, “When was the last assessment of vitamin D levels?”, “How much was the current vitamin D levels?” and “knowledge of acceptable levels of vitamin D (yes / no)”. Additionally, information on the awareness related to vitamin D supplements (yes/no), type of vitamin D supplements (Daily tablets / weekly tablets / Injections / multivitamin supplements / fortified milk / health drinks / others), and “Have you been prescribed vitamin D supplements based on your levels? (yes / no)” were also assessed本研究于2024年3月至2025年1月期间，针对印度南部多所牙科学院的牙科学生开展了一项多中心线上横断面调查。调查收集的人口统计学特征包括年龄、性别、当前就读学年；生活方式特征涵盖饮食类型、工作日暴露于直射日光的时长与时段、是否使用织物遮挡物（如围巾或雨伞，是/否）、是否使用防晒霜（是/否）。此外，研究设计了多项问题以评估受试者对维生素D水平相关知识的掌握情况，具体包括："你是否曾被要求检测维生素D水平？"（是/否）、"你是否曾检测过维生素D水平？"（是/否）；"若检测过，你是否知晓自身当前的维生素D水平？"（是/否）、"你最近一次检测维生素D水平的时间是何时？"、"你当前的维生素D水平具体数值为多少？"以及"你是否知晓维生素D的正常参考水平？"（是/否）。同时，研究还评估了受试者对维生素D补充剂的认知情况，具体包括：是否知晓维生素D补充剂（是/否）、维生素D补充剂的类型（每日片剂/每周片剂/注射剂/复合维生素补充剂/强化牛奶/保健饮品/其他），以及"你是否曾根据自身维生素D水平被开具维生素D补充剂处方？"（是/否）。