Vitamin D Supplementation in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain: An Open Label, Single Arm Clinical Trial

Background: Objective: Vitamin-D deciency may possibly be related to chronic low back pain (CLBP). The study is aimed to assess the impact of vitamin-D supplementation on pain intensity, functional disability, and vitamin-D levels in patients with CLBP. Sixty-eight eligible patients (CLBP for ≥ 3 months, pain score ≥ 50 on visual an Methods: alogue scale (VAS) and plasma 25- Hydroxyvitamin D3 levels < 30 ng/mL) were enrolled. Patients were supplemented with 60,000 IU of oral vitamin-D3 given every week for 8 weeks. Efcacy parameters included pain intensity and functional disability measured by VAS and modied Oswestry disability questionnaire (MODQ) scores at baseline, 2, 3, and 6-months post-supplementation. Plasma 25(OH) D3 levels were measured at baseline and 8 weeks. Results: Baseline mean (SD) vitamin-D levels were 12.8 (5.73) ng/mL and increased to 36.07 (12.51) post supplementation (P < 0.01). Forty-ve (66%) patients attained normal levels (> 29 ng/mL) post supplementation. Signicant reduction in VAS was observed at 2, 3, and 6 months [61 (19), 45(19), 36 (18)] as compared to 81 (19) at baseline (P ≤ 0.001 at all-time intervals). A signicant improvement in the functional ability was also observed at 2, 3, and 6 months [36 (12), 31 (13), and 26 (10)] as compared to baseline 45 (16) (P ≤ 0.001 at all-time intervals).