Rahman Rasool Akhtar, Junaid Khan, Tehreem Zahid, Riaz Ahmed.
Vitamin-D Levels and Low Back Pain; patients Presenting To a Tertiary Care Hospital of Pakistan.
Professional Med J Jan ;25(4):615-9.

Objectives: To determine the number of patients with low back pain who have low serum Vitamin-D levels along with associated risk factors in our local population. Study Design: Descriptive Study. Place and Duration: At the Department of Orthopedics, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi, for a duration of 01 year from 20th March 2016 to 19th March 2017. Patients and Methods: 600 patients were included in the study who met the inclusion criteria, i.e. patients presenting to the Out Patient Department (OPD) with low back pain for a duration of less than six months aged between 15 to 55 years. Venous blood withdrawn and serum levels of Vitamin-D measured. According to serum Vitamin-D levels, categorized as deficient, sufficient or excess. Results: Mean age of patients included in the study 44.21 ± 11.92 years. Out of the total, 337 (56.17%) were males and 263 (43.83%) females. Out of the total, 20.67%, 26.17% and 28.83% had mild, moderate and severe Vitamin-D deficiency, respectively. Predominantly patients with severe Vitamin-D deficiency presented in winters (October ? February) (17.16%) as compared to other seasons. The most pre-dominant risk factor in patients with low Vitamin-D levels was smoking (21.33%). Conclusion: Vitamin D plays a crucial role in the musculoskeletal framework of the body. The deficiency is more prevalent in the youth due to sedentary lifestyle and indoor preference.

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