Mapping the Association between Vitamin D and Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.

What It Covers

Researchers studied Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in this systematic review publication.

The researchers aim to investigate the association between vitamin D levels and LBP and to determine if vitamin D levels correlate with pain intensity in individuals with LBP.

Why It Was Studied

Low back pain (LBP) is the highest contributor to disability worldwide, with current intervention strategies only providing small to moderate analgesic effects.

The use of vitamin D supplementation for LBP has gained interest due to its proposed anti-inflammatory and neuromodulatory properties.

Who the Included Studies Covered

Studies were included if they reported any quantitative measure of vitamin D, such as serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], with adequate data in patients with and without LBP or adequate data on pain intensity in patients with LBP.

No restriction on the type or duration of LBP, nor the age and gender of patients was applied.

How the Review Was Done

This study was conducted in accordance with the guidelines for performing a Meta-analysis and Systematic Review Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE).

The researchers performed electronic database searches combined keywords relating to vitamin D and LBP in MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, AMED, WEB OF SCIENCE, and SCOPUS from the earliest record to March 2017.

Two reviewers independently performed the selection of studies, extracted data, and assessed the methodological quality of the included studies using a modified 15-item Downs and Black checklist.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Dietary Supplements, Low Back Pain, Observational Studies as Topic, Vitamin D, Vitamin D Deficiency and Vitamins.

What This Means in Plain Language

This is a systematic review of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 9 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2017 (Pain physician), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.