RESUMO
Background: Multiple sclerosis [MS] is a demyelinating disease of the nervous system. Its etiology is still not well understood. Lately, attention has been increased for the relation between MS and vitamin D deficiency
Objectives: This study aims to compare vitamin D level between MS and non-MS patients looking for any significant difference
Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study held at a tertiary hospital. It compares vitamin D level between MS and non-MS patients in the period from 2010 to 2017. Vitamin D level <50 nmoI/L was considered as low while level >50nmoI/L was labelled as normal. The means of the vitamin D level were compared using the independent t-test with a p-value of 0.05 for significance level
Results: Out of the 96 MS patients, only 72 patients had their vitamin D level measured. [51 females, mean age 34.62]. In comparison with 97 non-MS patients were included in the study [65 females, mean age 37.32]. Vitamin D level mean values in the MS and non-MS patients were calculated as 38.63 and 44.09 respectively. Comparing the means showed a p-value of 0.266
Conclusion: Despite that vitamin D deficiency is known as one of the risk factors for MS, with the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in this region, the development of MS can be attributed to more relevant contributing factors and further studies regarding MS risk factors for our population are needed to be sought