TY - JOUR AU - Rahman Rasool Akhtar , Riaz Ahmed , Sabeen Ashraf , Omair Ashraf , Umer Shafique , Ayesha Mureed, PY - 2020/06/26 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Effect of Vitamin-D supplementation in adults presenting with chronic lower back pain JF - Journal of Rawalpindi Medical College JA - JRMC VL - 24 IS - 2 SE - Articles DO - 10.37939/jrmc.v24i2.1399 UR - http://www.journalrmc.com/index.php/JRMC/article/view/1399 SP - AB - <p><strong>Background: </strong>Chronic pain in the lower back of adults is a common problem and mostly associated with Vitamin D deficiency. Along with standard treatment, vitamin D supplementation can help in early and better relief from back pain.</p><p><strong>Objective:</strong> To assess the effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation in patients with chronic lower back pain.</p><p><strong>Study Design &amp; Methods<em>: </em></strong>This Quasi-experimental trial was conducted at Department of Orthopaedics, Benazir Bhutto Hospital for 6 months. The patients aged between 15 to 55 years with chronic low back pain were included and pain score was noted by using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Patients were prescribed with oral vitamin D3 with a dose of 50,000 IU weekly for eight weeks (induction phase) and oral vitamin D3 with a dose of 50,000 IU once monthly for 6 months (maintenance phase). Outcome parameters included pain measured by VAS, functional disability by modified Oswestry disability questionnaire scores, and Vitamin-D3 levels at baseline,2, 3 and 6 months post-supplementation.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> Mean age of patients was 44.21± 11.92 years.There were 337 (56.2%) male patients while 263 (43.8%) female patients. Baseline mean vitamin-D levels were 13.32 ± 6.10 ng/mL and increased to 37.18 ± 11.72 post supplementation (P &lt; 0.0001). There was a significant decrease in the pain score after 2<sup>nd</sup>, 3<sup>rd</sup>&amp; 6<sup>th</sup> months (61.7 ± 4.8, 45.2 ± 4.6 &amp; 36.9 ± 7.9, respectively) than 81.2 ± 2.4 before supplementation (P &lt; 0.001). The modified Oswestry disability score also showed significant improvement after 2<sup>nd</sup>, 3<sup>rd</sup>&amp; 6<sup>th</sup>months (35.5 ± 11.4, 30.2 ± 9.4 &amp; 25.8 ± 10.6, respectively) as compared to baseline 46.4 ± 13.2 (P &lt; 0.001). About 418 (69.7%) patients attained normal levels after 6 months.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Prescription of Vitamin D in addition to standard therapy for chronic lower back pain can be beneficial in getting relief from pain and improving the functional ability of the patient.</p> ER -