| |
| author |
Meghan McDermott
| | title |
Evaluating Vitamin D Supplementation Compliance and Socioeconomic Status in a Pediatric Fracture Population: Clinical Evaluation of Bone Mineral Density
| | abstract |
The following thesis analyzes the impact of socioeconomic status on bone health in a
pediatric fracture population and aims to validate the role of supplementation in
preventing risk of fracture and poor bone mineralization. Poor bone health and vitamin D
deficiencies in pediatric populations is a serious, yet understudied problem. The current
literature comparing BMD directly to serum 25(OH)D levels draws conflicting reports as to
the effect of vitamin D supplementation on bone mineral density accrual in healthy children;
most importantly, there are limited prospective, longitudinal studies showing what happens
to vitamin D deficient patients who have already proven to be vulnerable to at least one bone
break after a year of proper supplementation. Additionally, there are a limited number of
studies on the impact of social class or socioeconomic status on pediatric bone health.
The current longitudinal interventional study presented addresses how to improve
compliance to a vitamin D supplementation protocol following a fracture. The study
follows patients with dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans at three time points during
the healing processes in addition to vitamin D levels. Preliminary data indicate that
patients following the protocol show significant improvements in bone mineral density
(BMD) relative to expected changes in bone mineral content (BMC).
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2019)
|
| advisor |
Roger Knowles
|
| committee |
A.J. Russo
Jonathan Reader
|
| full text | MMcDermott.pdf |
| |
