Vitamin D deficiency and Osteoporosis in Stroke Survivors: An analysis of National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES)

Background and Purpose: An inverse association between 25-Hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels and stroke was emphasized in recent studies. Our objective was to determine the rate of vitamin D deficiency among stroke survivors and risk of associated osteoporosis in a nationally representative population. Methods: Participants from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2001 through 2006 were included. Stroke survivors were then divided into 2 groups depending on serum 25(OH)D levels: <30ng/dL as vitamin D deficiency and ≥30ng/dL as normal. Comparisons of demographics and risk factors between two groups were performed using SAS software.  Multivariate analysis was performed to determine the association between vitamin D deficiency and osteopororis in stroke survivors after adjusting for potential confounding factors. Results: There were 415 (4.0%) stroke survivors among 10,255 participants in NHANES. The mean age [±SD] of stroke survivors was 67.56 [±17.3] years and 211 (50.8%) were men. Mean 25(OH)D concentrations were not significantly different in patients with stroke (20.3 versus 21.8ng/mL, p=0.65) although the rate of osteoporosis was significantly higher among stroke survivors (17.9% versus 6.9%, p<0.0001). Out of 415 stroke patients, vitamin D deficiency was seen in 71.0%  of patients. The rates of osteoporosis were similar between patients with or without Vitamin D deficiency. After adjusting for potential confounders, there was no association between vitamin D deficiency and osteoporosis. Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency and osteoporosis are highly prevalent among stroke survivors, however, there does not appear to be a relationship between the two entities.