Carpel tunnel syndrome: A link with vitamin D and calcium

Abstract

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and vitamin D deficiency are two conditions that cause chronic pain and are thus associated with psychological issues as well. The aim of the present study was to evaluate vitamin D levels, daily calcium intake, musculoskeletal pain and psychological symptoms in patients with CTS. The study included 48 patients with CTS and age-sex matched controls. Serum vitamin D levels were measured, and psychological symptoms were assessed using a Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. A Pain DETECT questionnaire was used to assess musculoskeletal pain (MSP) sites and severity. The results showed that vitamin D deficiency was considerably more prevalent in patients with CTS (95.8%) compared with controls (22.9%). Clinical anxiety (35.4 vs. 6.3%) and clinical depression (29.2 vs. 4.2%) were also more common in patients with CTS compared with controls. All the patients with CTS exhibited MSP, whereas none of the controls reported any MSP. Anxiety was significantly and inversely associated with vitamin D levels (r2 =-0.482; P<0.01), total daily calcium intake (r2 =-0.294: P<0.05), and positively associated with body mass index (BMI; r2 =0.200; P≤0.05) and depression (r2 =0.587; P<0.01). Depression was significantly and inversely associated with vitamin D levels (r2 =-0.269; P<0.01) and total daily calcium intake (r2 =-0.236; P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that with every unit increase in serum vitamin D levels, the odds of CTS were decreased 1.22x. While a one-unit increase in anxiety total score was associated with a 14% increase in the odds of having CTS after adjusting for different confounders. In conclusion, vitamin D deficiency, MSP and psychological symptoms are common in patients with CTS. Serum vitamin D levels and anxiety were significant independent predictors of CTS. Based on the results of the present study, it was shown that housewives had an equivalent chance of suffering from CTS morbidity as other high-risk professions. Further studies are required to confirm if vitamin D supplementation could prevent the onset of CTS.