Current Vitamin D Supplementation Prescribing Practices of Infant-Only Clinicians and Clinicians Who Care for Mothers and Infants
| IC (n = 168) | MIC (n = 192) | Total (n = 360) | P-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Times have you seen a child with nutritional rickets | <0.001 | |||
| 0 | 87 (51.8%) | 184 (95.8%) | 271 (75.3%) | |
| 1 to 2 | 54 (32.1%) | 8 (4.2%) | 62 (17.2%) | |
| 3 to 5 | 18 (10.7%) | 0 (0.0%) | 18 (5.0%) | |
| 6 to 10 | 6 (3.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | 6 (1.7%) | |
| 11 or more | 3 (1.8%) | 0 (0.0%) | 3 (0.8%) | |
| Times have you seen a child with vitamin D toxicity | 0.002 | |||
| 0 | 148 (88.1%) | 189 (98.4%) | 337 (93.6%) | |
| 1 to 2 | 16 (9.5%) | 2 (1.0%) | 18 (5.0%) | |
| 3 to 5 | 1 (0.6%) | 1 (0.5%) | 2 (0.6%) | |
| 6 to 10 | 1 (0.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (0.3%) | |
| 11 or more | 2 (1.2%) | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (0.6%) | |
| How often you recommend vitamin D supplementation to exclusively breastfed infants? Median (IQR) | 100 (100, 100) | 100 (90, 100) | 100 (95, 100) | <0.001 |
| How often you recommend vitamin D supplementation to partially breastfed infants or infants receiving less than 1000 mL of formula daily? Median (IQR) | 90 (60.5, 100) | 80 (30, 100) | 84 (50, 100) | 0.005 |
| Why do you recommend vitamin D supplementation? | ||||
| Missing | 1 | 15 | 16 | |
| To follow guideline recommendations | 161 (96.4%) | 161 (91.0%) | 322 (93.6%) | 0.04 |
| Because vitamin D deficiency occurs in the region where I practice | 73 (43.7%) | 78 (44.1%) | 151 (43.9%) | 0.95 |
| To prevent rickets | 102 (61.1%) | 57 (32.2%) | 159 (46.2%) | <0.001 |
| Other | 8 (4.8%) | 4 (2.3%) | 12 (3.5%) | 0.20 |
| Why do you not recommend vitamin D supplementation? | ||||
| Missing | 168 | 179 | 347 | |
| I am not aware of any guideline recommendations to do so | 4 (30.8%) | 4 (30.8%) | ||
| I have other priorities during the infant visit | 1 (7.7%) | 1 (7.7%) | ||
| Breastfed infants can get vitamin D from mothers who take adequate vitamin D | 2 (15.4%) | 2 (15.4%) | ||
| Other | 9 (69.2%) | 9 (69.2%) | ||
| How do you recommend vitamin D supplementation be given? | ||||
| Missing | 0 | 16 | 16 | |
| To infants via vitamin D drops | 161 (95.8%) | 158 (89.8%) | 319 (92.7%) | 0.03 |
| To breastfeeding mothers via a prenatal vitamin only | 3 (1.8%) | 19 (10.8%) | 22 (6.4%) | <0.001 |
| To breastfeeding mothers in doses higher than in a prenatal vitamin | 32 (19.0%) | 47 (26.7%) | 79 (23.0%) | 0.09 |
| I discuss infant and maternal supplementation options and let the parents/caregivers choose | 37 (22.0%) | 61 (34.7%) | 98 (28.5%) | 0.009 |
| I do not recommend vitamin D supplementation, but I encourage regular sunlight exposure | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (1.1%) | 2 (0.6%) | 0.17 |
| Other | 2 (1.2%) | 5 (2.8%) | 7 (2.0%) | 0.28 |
Abbreviations: IC, infant-only clinicians; MIC, mother-and-infant clinicians; IQR, interquartile ratio.