Assessment of Disease Activity Score with Respect to Vitamin D in Rheumatoid Arthritis: An Observational Study

Abstract

Background: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a crippling disorder with a prevalence rate ranging from 0.3% to 1% globally having an annual incidence rate of 3 per 10,000 adults. Vitamin D has unavoidable effects on numerous physiological functions as well as pathological conditions and several studies have analyzed the association of vitamin D deficiency in rheumatoid arthritis and have reached varied conclusions. Identifying the role of Vitamin D in curbing the articulation of RA is a topic of enormous importance having practical applications too. Material & Methods: This was an observational study conducted on 42 patients in the age group of 18-45 years having RA, diagnosed by the American College of Rheumatology criteria (ACR/EULAR criteria), for assessing disease activity score concerning vitamin D in them. Results: In the distribution of Disease Activity Level, the proportion of moderate activity level was found higher i.e. 66.7%. The mean vitamin D level was 10.93 ± 2.70, the minimum was 7 and the maximum was 18. The mean DAS-28 Score was 4.46 ± 0.82 with a minimum value of 2.63 and a maximum of 6.08. Conclusions: A notable association has been found between the comparison of the level of vitamin D and the DAS-28 score. The deficiency of vitamin D can be speculated to be a substantial reason for rheumatoid arthritis.