Vitamin B12 and folic acid levels in the general population

Background/Aim: Vitamin B12 and folic acid (vitamin B9) are water-soluble vitamins predominantly stored in the liver. This retrospective, descriptive-statistical study aimed to assess the distribution of vitamin B12 levels across three clinical categories: deficiency, optimal range and hypervitaminosis; assess the distribution of folic acid levels across the same categories: deficiency, optimal range and hypervitaminosis and determine whether there is a statistically significant difference in optimal folate levels between male and female subjects. Methods: Retrospective descriptive analysis was conducted on patient data collected at Vrbas General Hospital during the period from 2019 to 2020. Various statistical methods were used to evaluate the significance of the proposed hypotheses. The hypotheses tested were as follows: There is a statistically significant difference in the distribution of patients across the clinical categories of vitamin B12 levels, particularly indicating a shift toward vitamin B12 deficiency. Results: Using the Chi-square test, a statistically significant difference was observed in the distribution of respondents across the vitamin B12 level categories, with the majority classified within the optimal range level group compared to the deficiency and hypervitaminosis groups (p < 0.001). Results showed that there was no statistically significant correlation between the level of vitamin B12 and folic acid, in any of the mentioned categories of respondents (deficiency, optimal level and hypervitaminosis). Similarly, the ANOVA showed no statistically significant interaction between gender and year of sampling in predicting the level of folic acid at the level of probability p < 0.05. Conclusion: The study population from the General Hospital in Vrbas provided valuable data, corroborating findings from previous research while also yielding statistically significant and in part, unexpected results that contribute novel insights to the existing body of literature. Regular monitoring and maintenance of optimal levels of vitamin B12 and folic acid are essential for the prevention of severe haematological, neurological and other systemic disorders.