Clinical Effect of Vitamin D on Children with Global Developmental Delay

Abstract

Background Except for global developmental delay (GDD) caused by certain metabolic diseases with clear causes, rehabilitation treatment is the main treatment for GDD. Vitamin D plays an important neuroprotective role in regulating the development and differentiation of nerve cells by affecting neurotrophic factors; however, there is no study on the clinical effect of vitamin D supplementation on children with GDD. Objective To explore the clinical effects of vitamin D supplementation at different doses on the rehabilitation of children with GDD. Methods A total of 110 children with GDD who were hospitalized for the first time in the Department of Rehabilitation of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from September 2020 to June 2022 were selected as the study subjects and divided into the conventional group (n=38), 400 U group (n=37) and 1 200 U group (n=35) using a randomized block grouping method. The conventional group only received conventional rehabilitation; 400 U/d of vitamin D was given orally on the basis of conventional rehabilitation to the 400 U group; 1 200 U/d of vitamin D was given orally on the basis of conventional rehabilitation to the 1 200 U group. Basic data such as sex and age at consultation were collected from the children in the 3 groups; serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25 (OH) D] level and the score of Gesell scale for developmental quotient (DQ) in 5 functional areas of adaptive ability, gross motor ability, fine motor ability, linguistic competence, and social competence were measured at the time of admission and at the end of 3 courses of rehabilitation. The number of adverse events during the hospitalization of the children and the incidence of adverse events were recorded, and the above data were analyzed and compared. Results The comparison of the 3 groups of children in sex, place of residence, season of birth, mode of delivery, age of consultation, birth body mass, birth gestational age, and main reason for consultation showed no statistically significant difference (P>0.05). Before treatment, there was no statistically significant difference in 25 (OH) D level and DQ value of each functional area of Gesell scale among the 3 groups of children (P>0.05). After treatment, children in the 1 200 U group had higher blood 25 (OH) D levels, Gesell scale DQ values for gross motor ability, fine motor ability, and linguistic competence than those in the conventional group (P<0.05). During the first and second course of rehabilitation, the incidence of adverse events in the 3 groups of children showed no statistically significant difference (P>0.05) ; in the third course of rehabilitation, the incidence of adverse events in the 1 200 U group was significantly lower than that in the conventional group. Conclusion Supplementation with 1 200 U of vitamin D is beneficial to the rehabilitation outcome of children with GDD and reduces the incidence of adverse events during rehabilitation.

Keywords

• child development disorders, pervasive|global developmental delay|vitamin d|gesell scale|adverse events|rehabilitation treatment|neuroprotection