PREVALENCE OF INADEQUATE LEVEL OF VITAMIN D IN PATIENTS PRESENTING WITH MUSCULOSKELETAL PAIN IN SWAT REGION
BACKGROUND: Vitamin D 25_ Hydroxy) is a fat soluble vitamin. It is either absorbed through skin or by oral intake. It helps the body in absorbing calcium and phosphorous from intestine and inhibits the release of PTH, resulting in maintaining healthy bone in the body, whereas chronic deficiency of vitamin D leads to decreased bone mineralization. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to find prevalence of inadequate level of vitamin D in patients presenting with musculoskeletal pain in swat region. MATERIAL METHODS: This was a cross sectional study that was conducted at Swat Medical Complex from 24 Nov, 2015 to th 24 Feb 2016. A total of 400 patients were tested for their Vitamin D levels who presented to our Complex with generalized body aches. Non probability purposive sampling was adopted to collect data from patients aged 18 80 years of either gender. Their blood sample was taken in aseptic measures and was sent to hospital Laboratory. The data reports were collected and their vitamin D level was noted. All data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 33.44 12.67 with minimum and maximum age of 18 and 80 years. There were 174(43.5% male and 226(56.50% female patients in this study. Mean level of Vitamin D was 12.93 14.23 (S.D is higher due to huge variation in these values) According to standard criteria, vitamin D Deficiency 20 ng/dl) was seen in 321(80.25% Insufficiency (20 30 ng/ml) was seen in 51(12.75% and adequate level of vitamin D (30 115ng/ml) was measured in 28(7% only. Overall prevalence of inadequate level of vitamin D 20 ng/dl] was observed in 372 (93% among these patients. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency in our community is considerably high in our community. Both genders and people of all ages are exposed to the risk of Vitamin D deficiency. It is the need of the hour to increase awareness about the importance and sources of Vitamin D in general population and for this purpose, health care professionals, government and electronic and/or social media can play significant role.