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Rapid vs Maintenance Vitamin D Supplementation in Deficient Children With Asthma to Prevent Exacerbations.

Phase 1
Completed
Conditions
Vitamin D Deficiency
Asthma
Interventions
Registration Number
NCT01395589
Lead Sponsor
Hamad Medical Corporation
Brief Summary

The role of vitamin D in respiratory health remains uncertain. Whether vitamin D reduces clinically important exacerbations of childhood asthma remains uncertain. We compared rapid to maintenance vitamin D repletion analyzed by baseline vitamin D level.

Detailed Description

Recently published Cochrane metaanalysis suggested that vitamin D reduces the risk of severe asthma exacerbations, but only 22 children contributed to that analysis from a study that found no difference in acute care visits or rescue steroid administration. Altogether, randomized trials performed in children show promise solely in meta-analyses that use varied clinical outcomes and analysis approaches.

Were vitamin D supplementation beneficial for children with asthma, it might prevent moderate to severe asthma exacerbations entirely in some children, reduce the overall frequency of exacerbations in a treated group, or both. To examine these possibilities, we designed a randomized explanatory study comparing rapid vs maintenance vitamin D supplementation for children with moderate-to-severe asthma and with low baseline vitamin D levels .

Children presenting to the ED with moderate-to-severe asthma exacerbations and vitamin D levels \< 25 ng/mL underwent masked randomization, and then open dosing to either IM+oral (the latter daily) therapy or daily oral-only therapy, and were followed for 12 months.The primary outcome was patient-initiated unplanned visits for asthma exacerbations,examined two ways: cumulative proportions with an exacerbation, and average exacerbation frequency. As this was a nutrient study, we analyzed treatment groups by quartile of baseline vitamin D level, collecting repeat levels and clinical observations at 3, 6, 9,and 12 months after enrollment.

One hundred and sixteen patients in the IM+oral cohort vs 115 in the oral-only cohort had similar mean (SD) baseline levels: 15.1 (5.4) vs 15.8 (5.2) ng/mL (range, 3-25 ng/mL). There was no difference in the primary outcome over the entire 12-month observation period. However, rapid IM+oral supplementation significantly reduced unplanned visits for asthma exacerbations for children with baseline levels of 3 to 11 ng/mL during the initial 3 months: the relative exacerbation rate for the IM+oral cohort compared with the oral-only cohort at 3 months was 0.48 (95% CI, 0.28-0.89; P ¼ .008); average exacerbation frequency per child analysis, relative rate 0.36 (95% CI, 0.13-0.87; P ¼ .017).

So Rapid compared to maintenance vitamin D supplementation for children with the lowest levels resulted in short- but not long-term reduction in asthma exacerbations.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
597
Inclusion Criteria
  • Children 2-14 years of age with moderate to severe asthma and proved to be Vitamin D deficient by serum level.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

  • Prematurity (Gestational age 34 weeks or less)
  • Patients on vitamin D therapy
  • Patients on seizure medication or diuretics
  • Patients on chronic steroid use for other reasons than asthma
  • Patient with chronic liver or kidney disease
  • Patients with inherited bone disease
  • Patients with hypo or hyper parathyroidism
  • Patients with history of chronic lung disease other than asthma
Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
SINGLE_GROUP
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Injectable + oral vitamin DVitamin DChildren with moderate-to-severe asthma exacerbations and vitamin D levels \< 25 ng/mL.
Oral-only Vitamin DVitamin DChildren with moderate-to-severe asthma exacerbations and vitamin D levels \< 25 ng/mL.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Acute asthma exacerbations avoidable events .12 month

Rapid compared to maintenance oral supplementation with vitamin D significantly reduced unplanned visits for asthma exacerbations for children with baseline levels of 3 to 11 ng/mL during the initial 3 months of treatment but not thereafter.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Daily symptom burden differ in slow versus rapid vitamin D deficiency correction in patients with moderate to severe asthma12 month

Rapid compared to maintenance vitamin D supplementation for children with the lowest levels resulted in short- but not long-term reduction in asthma exacerbations.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Hamad Medical Corporation, Pediatric Emergency Center,Alsaad.

🇶🇦

Doha, Qatar

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