Role of vitamin D in the academic performance of health sciences students in Saudi Arabia

Purpose - Many researchers have reported that vitamin D can affect brain development as well as brain function. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in the Saudi population is 81% and it is more among women than among men. Though many studies have been done to find out the factors influencing the academic performance of Health sciences students, there is not adequate evidence regarding the influence of vitamin D level on academic performance. Therefore, this study aims to find out the association if any, between the vitamin D level and academic performance of health sciences students. Design/methodology/approach - After obtaining the ethical committee approval, the data was collected from 86 female medical students, 70 female applied medical sciences students and 57 nursing students of Northern Border University. The detailed questionnaire contained the aim of the study, demographic characteristics and academic performance predictors such as self-efficacy, academic motivation, academic engagement and social engagement. The vitamin D levels were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) machine (BioTek) which is available in the local hospital. The multiple linear regression analysis was used to find out the association between vitamin D levels and academic performance. Findings - This study showed that vitamin D level had a significant association with the overall performance of the students as well as their self-efficacy. Research limitations/implications - Since there is a lot of stress among health sciences students due to subject overload and inadequacy of time, the health aspects are often overlooked. This study emphasizes the importance of early screening of vitamin D levels and early intervention in those with low vitamin D levels for better academic performance. Social implications - There is very little awareness of the impact of vitamin D deficiency on academic motivation, academic engagement, social engagement and self-efficacy among medical and health sciences students. This study can increase awareness. Originality/value - There are very few studies done to find out the association between Vitamin D level and academic performance. This study is unique as it has highlighted the association between vitamin D level and grade point average (GPA) and also the association between vitamin D level and academic predictors such as self-efficacy, academic motivation, academic engagement and social engagement.