Does Vitamin D Deficiency Cause Chronic Low Back Pain: A Case-Control Study

Abstract

Background: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is an important cause of morbidity worldwide and is routinely treated by vitamin D supplementation alongwith other measures. Whether vitamin D deficiency is responsible for CLBP, is a matter of debate. The aim of this case-control study is to find out weather vitamin d deficiency is associated with CLBP. Objective: The objective of the study to find out whether hypovitaminosis D causes CLBP. Methods: This case-control study was conducted in the Department of Surgery and Medicine of Aero Hospital Wahcantt from 2ndMay 2022 to 31May 2023 after ethical approval from IMC vide letter No 44(33)/2023-IMC. 195 cases of CLBP and an equal number of controls were selected through non-probability convenience sampling. After matching confounding factors between the two groups, their vitamin D levels were recorded. The null hypothesis that there is no difference between the mean vitamin D level of cases and controls was tested by applying an independent sample t-test. Taking vitamin D levels below 20ng/ml as hypovitaminosis D, the odds ratio was calculated as well.                                                       Results: Both groups, cases, and controls had an equal number of males (n=63, 32.3%) and females (n=132, 67.7%). The mean age of cases was 44.6 years with SD ± 13.54 while the mean age of controls was 45.2 years with SD ± 13.46 years. The mean level of vitamin D of patients was 23.22 ng/ml with SD ± 17.76 while the mean vitamin D level of controls was 26.48ng/ml with SD ± 20.64. Independent sample t-test showed that there is no statistical significant difference between the mean vitamin D levels of the two groups (p-value > 0.05). The odds ratio was 1.31 showing no or very weak correlation between hypovitaminosis D and CLBP. Conclusion: There is no causal relationship between CLBP and hypovitaminosis D.