Non-Opioid Pain Relief: Use of Vitamin D in Central Appalachia

Background: Overdose deaths have exceeded US war fatalities since WWII. Central Appalachia faces high substance use rates and poor health determinants. The opioid epidemic costs $740 billion annually. Providing 100 million chronic pain sufferers alternative pain control is efficacious, equitable, and reduces opioids. The author collaborated with a nurse-led mobile clinic in Central Appalachia to identify evidence-based non-opioid pain relief options for practice translation. In patients with hypovitaminosis D, the body will increase parathyroid hormone production to absorb calcium resulting in skeletal or muscular pain. Vitamin D’s steroid properties reduce inflammation by dampening proinflammatory cytokines. Framework: The Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Model was to implement this evidence-based practice scholarly project. Scrutiny of the literature found strong and compelling evidence for treating chronic pain with 50,000IUs of oral vitamin D weekly for twelve weeks. Purpose: Implement vitamin D for chronic pain relief, aiming for a 0.5% reduction in chronic pain suffering, aligning with HealthyPeople 2030. Implementation: Thirty patients with chronic pain received vitamin D supplementation (50,000IUs weekly) as part of their treatment plan. Pre- and post-surveys were administered to assess the extent of patients’ benefit from vitamin D supplementation. Results: Aggregate data were analyzed: eleven patients enrolled in the scholarly project returned after taking vitamin D, they had statistically significant reductions in pain (p= 0.013) and how pain interferes with activity (p=0.04). Ninety-one percent of participants benefitted from vitamin D for pain relief. Conclusion: Vitamin D using 50,000IUs weekly for twelve weeks was found to be helpful for patients suffering from chronic pain in this setting.