Role of Vitamin D Replacement on Health Related Quality of Life in Hospitalized Patients with "Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease"

Burden of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is substantial and increasing in the world. There are controversial reports regarding vitamin D supplementation in COPD. We investigated relationship between vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) supplementation with Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) and symptom recovery in AECOPD patients with concurrent Vitamin D Deficiency (VDD). A placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial was designed. AECOPD patients with VDD were randomly allocated to receive either vitamin D 300,000 IU (n = 35) or placebo (n = 35) by intramuscular injection. Primary outcomes included the HRQOL assessed by St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), and the symptom recovery evaluated by the modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) Dyspnea scale, determined at baseline and at days 30 and 120 post-intervention. Secondary endpoints were length of hospital stay (LOS), rehospitalization and mortality rates.
Sixty-two patients, 30 patients in the vitamin D and 32 patients in the placebo groups, with mean ± SD age of 63.42 ± 8.48 years accomplished the study. Baseline vitamin D levels in the vitamin D and placebo groups were 10.59 ± 3.39 and 11.12 ± 3.17 ng/mL, respectively. These levels reached 36.85 ± 11.80 and 12.30 ± 3.66 in the vitamin D and placebo groups, respectively, at day 120 (p