Vitamin D status and its association with musculoskeletal symptoms and degenerative bone disease among orthopaedic outpatients in Nepal

The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between vitamin D status and demographic characteristics, musculoskeletal pain, and degenerative bone diseases in Orthopedic outpatients. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 215 patients attending the Orthopaedic Outpatient Department of a hospital in Nepal. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, and serum vitamin D levels were categorized as deficient (≤ 20 ng/mL), insufficient (21–29 ng/mL), and sufficient (≥ 30 ng/mL). Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and ordinal logistic regression analysis were used to examine the distribution and correlates of vitamin D status. The most prevalent category was vitamin D insufficiency (21–29 ng/mL), with 62.3% of participants affected, and 9.8% were vitamin D deficient. Females were less likely to be in the higher vitamin D category than males (AOR = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.18–0.77, p = 0.008), and participants without degenerative bone disease had lower odds of being in a higher vitamin D category (AOR = 0.40, 95% CI: 0.20–0.81, p = 0.010). MCA showed that Body pain was a common symptom among participants with suboptimal vitamin D status. Further longitudinal, multicenter studies are needed to elucidate the association between vitamin D status and degenerative bone disease and symptoms.