Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London Medical School, 1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Br J Nutr. 2012 Apr;107(7):1080-4. doi: 10.1017/S0007114511003965.
Poor vitamin D status is common in older people and results in osteoporosis; osteomalacia is associated with a wide range of non-communicable diseases and has potential effects on poor health outcomes. Pain is also common in older people and can be substantially disabling. The aim of the present analysis is to investigate associations between serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) and self-reported current symptoms of pain in a cross-sectional, nationally representative sample of 2070 adults aged ≥ 65 years living in the community in England in 2005. Measurements included serum 25(OH)D, pain status and covariates, namely, age, sex, social class, season of examination, use of vitamin supplements and physical health status. Results show that the symptoms of moderate/extreme pain (present in 53 % of the sample) were associated with poor vitamin D status, independent of other covariates. Particular advantages of the present study were the presence of directly measured vitamin D levels and a large and nationally representative sample. Poor vitamin D status is common and an associated risk factor for pain in older people living in northern latitudes. The direction of causation cannot be inferred from a cross-sectional study and further prospective research is required to clarify this. Regardless of the direction of causation, the relationship is potentially of high public health importance because of the adverse impact of both states on well-being. It is important that older people in pain are screened for vitamin D status and provided with appropriate interventions.
维生素 D 状态不佳在老年人中很常见，会导致骨质疏松症；骨软化症与多种非传染性疾病有关，并可能对健康状况产生不良影响。疼痛在老年人中也很常见，可能会严重致残。本分析旨在调查 2005 年在英国社区居住的 2070 名年龄≥65 岁的成年人的横断面、全国代表性样本中血清 25-羟维生素 D（25（OH）D）与自我报告的当前疼痛症状之间的关联。测量包括血清 25（OH）D、疼痛状况和协变量，即年龄、性别、社会阶层、检查季节、维生素补充剂的使用和身体健康状况。结果表明，中度/重度疼痛症状（样本中 53%存在）与维生素 D 状态不佳有关，与其他协变量无关。本研究的特别优势在于存在直接测量的维生素 D 水平和一个大型的全国代表性样本。在生活在高纬度地区的老年人中，维生素 D 状态不佳很常见，且是疼痛的一个相关危险因素。从横断面研究中无法推断出因果关系，需要进一步的前瞻性研究来阐明这一点。无论因果关系的方向如何，由于这两种情况对幸福感都有不利影响，因此这种关系具有很高的公共卫生重要性。重要的是，对疼痛的老年人进行维生素 D 状态筛查并提供适当的干预措施。
