A descriptive study on vitamin D levels in individuals with spinal cord injury in an acute inpatient rehabilitation setting.

PM R. 2010 Mar;2(3):202-8; quiz 228.
Nemunaitis GA, Mejia M, Nagy JA, Johnson T, Chae J, Roach MJ.
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, MetroHealth Rehabilitation, Institute of Ohio, MetroHealth Medical System, Cleveland, OH, USA.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of inadequate or severely deficient levels of vitamin D in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) admitted to an inpatient rehabilitation service and to describe any associations between patient demographics and injury characteristics and vitamin D levels.
DESIGN: Retrospective case series.
SETTING: Academic inpatient SCI rehabilitation program.
SUBJECTS: One hundred patients with SCI who were consecutively admitted to acute inpatient rehabilitation from January to December 2007.
METHODS: Data were retrospectively abstracted from the patient's medical chart. OUTCOME MEASURE: VitD-25(OH).

RESULTS: The prevalence of VitD-25(OH) inadequacy or severe deficiency was 93% in this sample of patients with SCI. The mean VitD-25(OH) level was 16.29 +/- 7.73 ng/mL, with a range from 7.00 to 36.80 ng/mL. Twenty-one percent of the sample had VitD-25(OH) levels that were considered as severely deficient (< or =10 ng/mL). African-American subjects had statistically significant lower mean VitD-25(OH) levels compared with Caucasian subjects (12.96 versus 17.79 ng/mL; P = .003).
Persons with an incomplete injury had significant lower mean VitD-25(OH) levels compared with complete injuries (14.64 versus 18.15 ng/mL; P = .023).

CONCLUSIONS: Inadequate or severely deficient levels of VitD-25(OH) were highly prevalent in patients with SCI admitted to an acute inpatient rehabilitation service. Evaluation of serum VitD-25(OH) levels are recommended in patients with SCI because low levels may contribute to osteoporosis. Copyright 2010 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. PMID: 20359685
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Mean all skin color 16 ng/ml, with 21% < 10 ng/ml

Mean for Blacks 13 ng/ml

See also on VitaminDWiki

• People with SCI very vitamin D deficient – 2010
• Spinal Cord Injury patients normalized by 2,000 IU of vitamin D for 3 months – Sept 2011
• All items in category Spinal Cord 21 items
• Vitamin D repaired nerve in rat (50,000 IU daily dose equivalent for human) – June 2013