Copyright
©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Vitamin D deficiency, functional status, and balance in older adults with osteoarthritis
Cláudia N Montemor, Marcos Tadeu P Fernandes, Audrey S Marquez, Regina Célia Poli-Frederico, Rubens Alexandre da Silva, Karen B P Fernandes
Cláudia N Montemor, Rubens Alexandre da Silva, Karen B P Fernandes, Laboratory of Rehabilitation Research, Doctoral Program of Rehabilitation Sciences, University Pitágoras Unopar (UNOPAR), Londrina 86041-140, Parana, Brazil
Marcos Tadeu P Fernandes, Department of Anesthesiology, Irmandade da Santa Casa de Londrina, Londrina 86010-160, Parana, Brazil
Audrey S Marquez, Health Sciences Research Center, University Pitágoras Unopar (UNOPAR), Londrina 86041-140, Parana, Brazil
Regina Célia Poli-Frederico, Doctoral Program of Rehabilitation Sciences, University Pitagoras Unopar (UNOPAR), Londrina 86041-140, Parana, Brazil
Rubens Alexandre da Silva, Karen B P Fernandes, Département des Sciences de la Santé, Centre intersectoriel en santé durable, Laboratoire de recherche BioNR, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC ), Saguenay, G7H 2B1, Québec, Canada
Rubens Alexandre da Silva, Centre intégré de santé et services sociaux du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (CIUSSS SLSJ), Hôpital de La Baie - Services gériatriques spécialisés, Saguenay, Québec, G7H 7K9, Canada
Author contributions: Montemor CN, Fernandes MTP, da Silva RA, and Fernandes KBP collected the patients’ clinical data; Fernandes MTP and Fernandes KBP organized the collected clinical data; Montemor CN, Marquez AS, and Fernandes KBP analyzed the data; Montemor CN and Fernandes MTP wrote the paper; Marquez AS, Poli-Frederico RC, da Silva RA, and Fernandes KBP revised the paper; Poli-Frederico RC and da Silva RA made important contributions to the study performance; Fernandes KBP designed the project and the study.
Supported by National Foundation for Development of Private Higher Education Institutions (FUNADESP)/University Pitagoras UNOPAR, No. 049/15.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University Pitagoras Unopar (No. 070/09).
Informed consent statement: All study participants provided written informed consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare having no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Karen B P Fernandes, PhD, Associate Professor, Laboratory of Rehabilitation Research, Doctoral Program of Rehabilitation Sciences, University Pitágoras Unopar (UNOPAR), Rua Marselha, 491 Jardim Piza, Londrina 86041-140, Parana, Brazil.
karenparron@gmail.com
Received: February 4, 2021
Peer-review started: February 4, 2021
First decision: March 31, 2021
Revised: April 15, 2021
Accepted: July 9, 2021
Article in press: July 9, 2021
Published online: November 6, 2021
Processing time: 266 Days and 22.2 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Vitamin D deficiency may be related to osteoarthritis (OA) severity and functional status. No previous studies have reported an association between vitamin D deficiency in patients with OA and postural balance.
Research motivation
Our study aimed to explore the severity, functional status, and postural balance in elderly patients with OA and their association with vitamin D levels. The differences might be helpful for proper evaluation and rehabilitation of these patients.
Research objectives
This study aimed to analyze if vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency is correlated to OA severity, functional status, and postural balance in elderly patients.
Research methods
Elderly patients with hip and/or knee OA were included. Serum 25 (OH) vitamin D levels were measured using a chemiluminescence method. The severity was assessed by the Kellgren-Lawrence criteria. The functional status was evaluated with the Lequesne index. Postural balance was assessed using a force platform, and center-of-pressure parameters (velocity at anteroposterior and mediolateral axis) were used as the balance outcomes.
Research results
In this OA population, the patients with vitamin D deficiency had lower functional status than patients with sufficient vitamin D. Additionally, patients with vitamin D deficiency had worse postural balance.
Research conclusions
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with worse severity and functional status. We found for the first time that individuals with OA and vitamin D deficiency have balance impairment.
Research perspectives
We preliminarily explored the relationship between vitamin D levels and functional status and postural balance in elderly patients with OA. Further studies should expand the sample size and adopt a prospective study design to understand the role of vitamin D deficiency and joint function and balance.
