Plasma Vitamin C Levels: Risk Factors for Deficiency and Association with Self-Reported Functional Health in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk

McCall, Stephen J.; Clark, Allan B.; Luben, Robert N.; Wareham, Nicholas J.; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Myint, Phyo Kyaw

doi:10.3390/nu11071552

Submit to this Journal Review for this Journal Edit a Special Issue

Article Menu

...

Open AccessArticle

Plasma Vitamin C Levels: Risk Factors for Deficiency and Association with Self-Reported Functional Health in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk

Stephen J. McCall

^1,2,

Allan B. Clark

³,

Robert N. Luben

⁴, Nicholas J. Wareham⁵,

Kay-Tee Khaw

⁴ and

Phyo Kyaw Myint

^2,*

National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Richard Doll Building, Old Road Campus, Oxford OX3 7LF, UK

Ageing Clinical & Experimental Research Group, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK

Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK

⁴

Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0SR UK

⁵

MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Nutrients 2019, 11(7), 1552; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11071552

Received: 6 May 2019 / Revised: 1 July 2019 / Accepted: 2 July 2019 / Published: 9 July 2019

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vitamin C: From Bench to Bedside)

View Full-Text Download PDF Review Reports Citation Export

Abstract

Background: To investigate the demographic and lifestyles factors associated with vitamin C deficiency and to examine the association between plasma vitamin C level and self-reported physical functional health. Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study using the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk study. Plasma vitamin C level < 11 µmol/L indicated vitamin C deficiency. Unconditional logistic regression models assessed the association between vitamin C deficiency and potential risk factors. Associations between quartiles of vitamin C and self-reported functional health measured by the 36-item short-form questionnaire (SF-36) were assessed. Results: After adjustment, vitamin C deficiency was associated with older age, being male, lower physical activity, smoking, more socially deprived area (Townsend index) and a lower educational attainment. Compared to the highest, those in the lowest quartile of vitamin C were more likely to score in the lowest decile of physical function (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.43 (95%CI: 1.21–1.70)), bodily pain (aOR: 1.29 (95% CI: 1.07–1.56)), general health (aOR: 1.4 (95%CI: 1.18–1.66)), and vitality (aOR: 1.23 (95%CI: 1.04–1.45)) SF-36 scores. Conclusions: Simple public health interventions should be aimed at populations with risk factors for vitamin C deficiency. Poor self-reported functional health was associated with lower plasma vitamin C levels, which may reflect symptoms of latent scurvy. View Full-Text

Keywords: vitamin C; self-reported health; risk factors; EPIC-Norfolk

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Supplementary Material

Supplementary File 1:
PDF-Document (PDF, 126 KiB)

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

McCall, S.J.; Clark, A.B.; Luben, R.N.; Wareham, N.J.; Khaw, K.-T.; Myint, P.K. Plasma Vitamin C Levels: Risk Factors for Deficiency and Association with Self-Reported Functional Health in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk. Nutrients 2019, 11, 1552. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11071552

AMA Style

McCall SJ, Clark AB, Luben RN, Wareham NJ, Khaw K-T, Myint PK. Plasma Vitamin C Levels: Risk Factors for Deficiency and Association with Self-Reported Functional Health in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk. Nutrients. 2019; 11(7):1552. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11071552

Chicago/Turabian Style

McCall, Stephen J., Allan B. Clark, Robert N. Luben, Nicholas J. Wareham, Kay-Tee Khaw, and Phyo K. Myint. 2019. "Plasma Vitamin C Levels: Risk Factors for Deficiency and Association with Self-Reported Functional Health in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk" Nutrients 11, no. 7: 1552. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11071552

Find Other Styles

Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Abstract views Pdf views Html views

Article Menu

Plasma Vitamin C Levels: Risk Factors for Deficiency and Association with Self-Reported Functional Health in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk

Abstract

Supplementary Material

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Article Access Map by Country/Region

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI