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The primary objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and clinical correlates of vitamin D inadequacy in patients seeking treatment for chronic pain.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Setting: Multidisciplinary pain rehabilitation center at a tertiary referral medical center.

Patients: The study involved 267 chronic pain patients admitted from February to December 2006.

Intervention: Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) was drawn at admission.

Outcome Measures: Patients with serum 25[OH]D levels less than or equal to 20 ng/mL were considered to have inadequate levels and those with levels more than 20 ng/mL were considered to have adequate levels. Upon admission, opioid intake was documented and patients completed the Short Form-36 Health Status Questionnaire.

Results: The prevalence of vitamin D inadequacy was 26% (95% confidence interval, 20.6-31.1%).

Among patients using opioids, the mean morphine equivalent dose for the inadequate vitamin D group was 133.5 mg/day compared with 70.0 mg/day for the adequate group (P = 0.001).

The mean duration of opioid use for the inadequate and adequate groups were 71.1 months and 43.8 months, respectively (P = 0.023).

Opioid users with inadequate levels reported worse physical functioning (P = 0.041) and health perception (P = 0.003) than opioid users with adequate levels.

Conclusion: The prevalence and clinical correlates identified in this pilot study provide the basis for the assertion that vitamin D inadequacy may represent an under-recognized source of nociception [feeling pain] and impaired neuromuscular functioning among patients with chronic pain.

Source: Pain Medicine, Mar 2008. [E-pub ahead of print] PMID: 18346069, by Turner MK, Hooten WM, Schmidt JE, Kerkvliet JL, Townsend CO, Bruce BK. Departments of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Graduate School of Medicine; Departments of Anesthesiology and Psychiatry & Psychology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota, USA. [E-mail: hooten.william@mayo.edu]