ORCID Profile
0000-0003-3117-8541
Current Organisation
BRAC University
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 02-11-2021
DOI: 10.1017/S0007114521004360
Abstract: Insufficiency of vitamin D, during pregnancy, is a common cause of various pregnancy-related complications. Despite such insufficiency being frequently reported among South Asian pregnant women, the absence of systematic review and meta-analysis renders the true extent of this problem being poorly characterised. In this systematic review, three main databases (PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar) were searched for original studies. We included original studies published between 1January 2001 to 31 December 2019, conducted on pregnant women who lived in South Asian countries and reported the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency among the study participants. Twenty studies with a total of 7804 participants from four South Asian countries finally met our selection criteria. Overall pooled prevalence of insufficiency was 65 % (95 % CI: 51 %, 78 %) with a significant heterogeneity (I 2 = 99·37 % P = 0·00). The average level of vitamin D ranged from 9 ng/ml to 24·86 ng/ml with a weighted mean of 16·37 ng/ml (weighted standard deviation 7·13 ng/ml). The highest prevalence of insufficiency was found in Pakistan (76 %) followed by India (67 %), Bangladesh (64 %) and Nepal (14 %). Results obtained in this study suggest that vitamin D insufficiency is highly prevalent among South Asian pregnant women. Being the first systematic review in this region, findings from this study will help the future studies and strengthen the evidence for policymakers to develop effective mitigation strategies.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-10-2021
DOI: 10.1186/S12889-021-11888-1
Abstract: Vitamin-D deficiency is linked to a wide range of chronic and infectious diseases. Body of literature suggested that the prevalence of this deficiency can have geographical variation. Although vitamin D deficiency is frequently reported in the South Asian population, the scarcity of systematic reviews and meta-analysis means the true extent of the disease and the underlying factors causing it are poorly characterized. A systematic search was performed using two databases (PubMed and Scopus) and one search engine (Google Scholar) for original studies on the South Asian population (published from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2019). Following the search, a random effect meta-analysis was performed to calculate population-level weighted average, the pooled prevalence of deficiency, and heterogeneity of vitamin D among different countries and genders in addition to South Asia as a whole. Our study, based on our selection criteria was narrowed down to a total of 44,717 participants which spanned over 65 studies from five South Asian countries. Overall, the pooled prevalence of deficiency was 68% [95% CI: 64 to 72%] with significant heterogeneity (I 2 = 98% p = 0.00). The average level of vitamin D ranged from 4.7 to 32 ng/mL, with a weighted mean of 19.15 ng/mL (weighted standard deviation 11.59 ng/mL). The highest prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was found in Pakistan (73% % CI: 63 to 83%) followed by Bangladesh (67% 95% CI: 50 to 83%), India (67% 95% CI: 61 to 73%), Nepal (57% 95% CI: 53 to 60%) and Sri Lanka (48% 95% CI: 41 to 55%), respectively. This finding indicated a high degree of heterogeneity among the population. (I 2 = 98.76%), Furthermore, a gender-wise analysis suggested that in South Asia, the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was higher in females than males. Our findings reveal highly prevalent and variable vitamin D deficiency among the adults of different South Asian countries. Findings from this review would be helpful to generate hypotheses and explore the factors affecting the inter-country variability, alongside strengthening evidence for governments to prioritize mitigation strategies in this region.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 22-08-2020
DOI: 10.1101/2020.08.19.20177980
Abstract: The COVID-19 affected millions of people, and the patients present a constellation of symptoms and comorbidities. We aimed to chronicle the prevalence and correlations of symptoms and comorbidities, and associated covariates among the patients. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis [PROSPERO registration: CRD42020182677]. Databases [PubMed, SCOPUS, EMBASE, WHO, Semantic Scholar, and COVID-19 Primer] were searched for clinical studies published in English from January 1 to April 20, 2020. The pooled prevalence of symptoms and comorbidities were identified using the random effect model, and sub-groups analysis of patients’ age and locations were investigated. A multivariable factor analysis was also performed to show the correlation among symptoms, comorbidities and age of the COVID-19 patients. Twenty-nine articles [China (24) Outside of China (5)], with 4,884 COVID-19 patients were included in this systematic review. The meta-analysis investigated 33 symptoms, where fever [84%], cough/dry cough [61%], and fatigue/weakness [42%] were found frequent. Out of 43 comorbidities investigated, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) [61%] was a common condition, followed by hypertension [23%] and diabetes [12%]. According to the patients’ age, the prevalence of symptoms like fatigue/weakness, dyspnea/shortness of breath, and anorexia were highly prevalent in older adults [≥50 years] than younger adults [≤50 years]. Diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and COPD/lung disease were more prevalent comorbidities in older adults than younger adults. The patients from outside of China had significantly higher prevalence [p 0.005] of diarrhea, fatigue, nausea, sore throat, and dyspnea, and the prevalent comorbidities in that region were diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and ARDS. The multivariable factor analysis showed positive association between a group of symptoms and comorbidities, and with the patients’ age. Epitomizing the correlation of symptoms of COVID-19 with comorbidities and patients’ age would help clinicians effectively manage the patients. There is scarce evidence on the prevalence of all symptoms and comorbidities in COVID-19 infected older adults and patients from outside of China. Previously published review studies excluded a wide range of symptoms and comorbidities from their analysis due to limited time-frame. Study on the correlation of symptoms and comorbidity with age of the COVID-19 patients are not yet to be explored. We investigated all the reported symptoms [33] and comorbidity [43] where fever [84%], cough/dry cough [61%], fatigue/weakness [42%] and dyspnea/shortness of breath [ symptoms, and ARDS [61%], followed by hypertension [23%] and frequent comorbidity. Key findings, the fatigue/weakness, dyspnea/shortness of breath and anorexia were comparatively higher in older adults than younger adults, and the patients from outside of China had a higher prevalence diarrhoea, fatigue, nausea, sore throat, dyspnea, diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease and ARDS. Key findings, the symptoms comprising fever, dyspnea/shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness, anorexia and pharyngalgia and the comorbidities including diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, COPD/lung disease and ARDS were positively correlated with the COVID-19 patient’s age. These findings according to patient’s age and geographical variations may help the health care providers and policy makers. This pioneering efforts in estimating the prevalence and correlations of all frequent symptoms and comorbidities will help the clinicians and disease practitioners like WHO to implement patient-centered interventions.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-03-2022
DOI: 10.1186/S41043-022-00287-W
Abstract: Vitamin D is vital for the growth and development of children. While deficiency and/or insufficiency of vitamin D among South Asian children are frequently reported in the literature, the lack of a meta-analysis has left its true extent poorly characterized. In this study, we aimed to conduct a systematic review and perform meta-analyses of the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D among the children of the South Asian countries. Two major electronic search engines (PubMed and Scopus) and one database (Google scholar) were used original studies, conducted among South Asian children and adolescents and published between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2019. A random-effect meta-analysis was also performed to calculate the pooled prevalence of hypovitaminosis D followed by subgroup analyses for countries and age groups. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 41 studies with a total population size of 18,233 were finally selected. The overall prevalence of hypovitaminosis D was 61% [95% CI: 46% to 71%] with highly significant heterogeneity ( I 2 = 99.72% p 0.0001). The average level of serum vitamin D ranged from 5 ng/mL to 34 ng/mL, with a weighted mean of 19.15 ng/mL (weighted standard deviation 11.59 ng/mL). Country-wise analysis showed that hypovitaminosis D in Afghanistan was the highest [96.2% 95% CI: 91% to 99%], followed by Pakistan [94% 95% CI: 90% to 96%], India [64% 95% CI: 46% to 79%], Bangladesh [35.48% 95% CI: 32% to 39%], Nepal [35% 95% CI: 1% to 83%], and Sri Lanka [25% 95% CI: 16% to 36%]. Age group analyses revealed that hypovitaminosis D was most prevalent among neonates [85% 95% CI: 76% to 91%], followed by school-going children [57% 95% CI: 33% to 80%], and preschool children [55% 95% CI: 35% to 75%]. This study generates quantitative evidence and specific extent of hypovitaminosis D in the South Asian countries as a public health concern. Being the first systematic review for this region, results from this study will create awareness and will facilitate adopting mitigation strategies by the policymakers and the governments to address this problem.
No related grants have been discovered for Badhan Bhattacharjee.