Study of the Relationship between Vitamin D Status and Basic Functional Mobility in Ambulatory Elderly

Abstract

Background : Associations between physical performance and vitamin D status have been contradicted among studies. Vitamin D deficiency is very common among geriatric patients and is an established risk factor for osteoporosis, falls and fractures. Aim: to analyse the relation between Vitamin D and basic functional mobility in a sample of ambulatory Egyptian elderly. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 100 elderly patients aged ≥ 60 years. Participants were recruited from Geriatric primary health care clinic at Ain Shams University hospital, Cairo, Egypt. All participants underwent comprehensive geriatric assessment, physical performance assessment using timed up and go (TUG) test and Gait speed test at four meters; they also had Serum levels of vitamin D (25OHD) measured by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay method. Results: Of 100 subjects, 52% showed vitamin D insufficiency, 16% were vitamin D deficient and 32% had normal vitamin D levels. Regarding physical performance 64% of subjects had elevated TUG test (as defined by the cut off value 14 seconds), 56% of subjects scored a gait speed < 0.6 m/s. Physical performance was significantly related to vitamin D deficiency when measured by gait speed test but not TUG test. Conclusion: Vitamin D insufficiency is prevalent among ambulatory elderly and vitamin D status is strongly associated with basic functional mobility when measured by gait speed test.

The Prevalence of Micronutrient Deficiencies and Inadequacies in the Middle East and Approaches to Interventions

“…Most studies on vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency among the elderly in the Middle East have been conducted on women [26,45,46,47,48], a few have included both genders [11,15,49,50], and only one has been conducted solely on men [12]. Low prevalence of vitamin D deficiency has been reported among the elderly in Egypt at 19.3% [12] and KSA at 23.1% [23]; however, insufficiency levels were found to be higher, reaching 41% among the elderly in Lebanon [15] and 77.2% among those in Egypt [26].…”

“…In a cross-sectional study of vitamin D status in 57 male and 43 female patients aged ≥60 years, Mahmoud et al found that 16% were deficient (serum 25(OH)D ≤ 30 nmol/L) and 52% were insufficient/inadequate (serum 25(OH)D 30–75 nmol/L) [49]. A higher rate of vitamin D deficiency was observed in women than men (20.9% vs. 12.3%, respectively); however, a higher rate of vitamin D insufficiency/inadequacy was observed in than in women men (66.7% vs. 32.6%, respectively).…”