Despite medical advances in the 20th century, vitamin D deficiency is still a pandemic 1: approximately 1 billion people worldwide suffer from vitamin D deficiency. Classically, vitamin D deficiency is associated with rickets in children while, in adults, vitamin D deficiency manifests itself as osteomalacia, a painful condition of defective skeletal mineralisation, or as osteoporosis causing skeletal fragility and fractures. Vitamin D also plays an important role in regulating proliferation and differentiation in a variety of cells and tissues not associated with calcium metabolism. Vitamin D receptors (VDRs) have been found in a variety of tissues and body cells, including brain, heart, breast, prostate, gonads, colon, pancreas, monocytes and activated T- and B lymphocytes. Vitamin D is important for maintaining muscle strength through its action on VDRs in muscle tissue.
Inpatients and outpatients undergoing rehabilitation are a high-risk population prone to develop vitamin D deficiency and to manifest the consequences of this condition. The functional results of these patients will depend on the correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment of the vitamin Deficiency.
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation in patients undergoing rehabilitation programmes, we took into account studies concerning rehabilitation after cerebral strokes. The efficacy of rehabilitation after vitamin D supplementation in stroke patients was investigated, the efficacy of supplementation, and the type, form and amount of vitamin D administered. The inclusion criteria, the duration of the study and the scales used were discussed.