Systematic Review Examining the Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on Outcomes Post Stroke

Objective(s): The objective of this systematic review was to explore the effect of vitamin D supplementation on functional outcomes among individuals post stroke(PROSPERO CRD42022296462).

Data Sources: MEDLINE, PsycInfo, EMBASE, and CINAHL were searched for articles published in any language from database inception to January 5, 2022.

Study Selection: Only interventional studies assessing vitamin D supplementation compared to placebo or usual care in adult stroke patients were selected. After duplicate removal, 2,825 studies were screened by two independent reviewers. A total of 41 studies underwent full text review; 8 studies met inclusion criteria (6 randomized controlled trials [RCTs] and 2 observational studies).

Data Extraction: Data were extracted by two independent reviewers using Covidence software. Motor function (Brunnstrom Recovery Stage, Berg Balance Score), mobility (Functional Ambulation Category), activities of daily living (Barthel Index, Functional Independence Measure) and stroke impairment (Modified Rankin Scale, National Institutes for Health Stroke Severity, Scandinavian Stroke Severity) were the outcome measures of interest included in the studies.

Data Synthesis: In total, 562 patients were studied for which 9 of 13 outcome measures showed improvement with vitamin D supplementation.

Conclusions: The majority of studies showed an improvement in motor function, mobility, and stroke impairment with vitamin D supplementation; however, the evidence did not support an improvement in activities of daily living with treatment. Strong, methodologically sound RCTs are required to verify these findings.

Author(s) Disclosures: None