مراقبت پرستاری و مامایی ابن سینا (May 2023)

The Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on the Severity of Dysmenorrhea: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

  • Hamideh Hajnasiri,
  • Farnoosh Moafi Ghafari,
  • Zainab Alimoradi

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 31, no. 2
pp. 144 – 154

Abstract

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Background and Objective: The effectiveness of nutritional supplements to relieve dysmenorrhea pain has been investigated in some studies. The present study aimed to review and summarize the available evidence on the effect of vitamin D supplementation on the severity of dysmenorrhea. Materials and Methods: In the present systematic review and meta-analysis, clinical trials were eligible to be included in the study if they examined the effect of vitamin D supplementation on the severity of dysmenorrhea. Academic databases (e.g., Scopus, PubMed, and ISI), international clinical trial registration systems, as well as Google Scholar were searched from the beginning of the establishment of the above databases until July 2022. Results: In five studies on 368 people (intervention: n=185; control: n=183), the effect of vitamin D was investigated on primary dysmenorrhea. The standardized mean difference of primary dysmenorrhea for the intervention group with vitamin D supplementation, compared to the control group, was -1.57 (95% confidence interval: -0.67 to -2.47). Based on meta-regression, the mean age of the participants was the only independent variable that predicted 11.51% of the variance in the effect of vitamin D supplementation on primary dysmenorrhea. In two studies on 107 people (intervention: n=46; control: n=61), the effect of vitamin D on secondary dysmenorrhea was investigated. The standardized mean difference in the severity of secondary dysmenorrhea for the intervention group with vitamin D supplementation, compared to the control group, was 0.66 (95% confidence interval: -1.12 to 2.45). Conclusion: Considering the limited number of studies, the risk of methodological bias in the selected studies, the wide range of confidence interval scores, and inconclusive results, there is a need to design more comprehensive methodological studies with larger sample sizes.

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