IS THERE ANY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VITAMIN D LEVELS AND THE SEVERITY OF DIABETIC PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY?

Introduction. Diabetes and its complications are the major burdens of health problems worldwide. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is one of the major complications. Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels have been associated with sensory neuropathy in diabetes. Vitamin D concentrations also might be correlated with the severity of the neuropathy. A recent systematic review showed that vitamin D deficiency is associated with the generation and development of DPN. Aim. This study investigates the possible correlation between vitamin D levels and the severity of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). Method. This study is a cross-sectional, the data were obtained from 53 subjects with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. The sample size was calculated based on an estimate of 20 % prevalence of neuropathy in diabetes, allowing for an error of 10%, and thereby a total of 53 patients were recruited. A standardized instrument was used to record the demographic details of the patients. The patient’s clinical profile including age, gender, duration of diabetes, medication, associated microvascular complications was documented. The vitamin D levels was measured by a standardized method in Prodia Research Laboratory. The severity of neuropathy was measured with the Toronto Clinical Neuropathy Scoring System. Pearson correlation test was used to measure the correlation. results. The data were obtained from 53 subjects, consist of 11 males and 42 females. The mean age was 57.83±8.79 years. The prevalence of low levels of vitamin D in this study was 97.11%. Gender (p value = 0.028), controlled complications (p value = 0.005), and hypertension (p value = 0.027) have significant results. Pearson correlation test shows there were significant results between the severity of neuropathy and vitamin D levels (p value=0.000). Conclusions. The severity of diabetic peripheral neuropathy in this study is significantly associated with vitamin D levels (p value = 0.000)