Vitamin D deficiency: To test or not to test

Description

What should GPs say to patients who request vitamin D tests that are not clinically indicated?...

The First do no harm guide is designed to reduce overdiagnosis, interventions with insufficient evidence and overused tests, and facilitate shared decisions about health between GPs and their patients. Each topic has a GP and patient resource.
 
Professor Mark Morgan, who is Chair of the REC–QC and also Co-Chair of the Expert Steering Group, agrees that testing vitamin D is not routinely recommended unless there are risk factors for deficiency.
 
‘Vitamin D is a commonly requested test and it is sometimes added to a battery of tests with little expectation of benefit from doing the test,’ he said.
 
‘There are economic and environmental concerns from requesting low-value tests.’

Subject

Value based healthcare

Vitamin D

General Practice

First Do No Harm clinical practice guideline