Hospital and laboratory outcomes of patients with COVID-19 who received vitamin D supplementation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a wide-ranging spectrum of clinical symptoms, from asymptomatic/mild to severe. Recent research indicates that, among several factors, a low vitamin D level is a modifiable risk factor for COVID-19 patients. This study aims to evaluate the effect of vitamin D on hospital and laboratory outcomes of patients with COVID-19.Five databases (PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library) and clinicaltrials.gov were searched until July 2022, using relevant keywords/Mesh terms. Only randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that addressed the topic were included. The Cochrane tool was used to assess the studies' risk of bias, and the data were analyzed using the review manager (RevMan 5.4).We included nine RCTs with 1586 confirmed COVID-19 patients. Vitamin D group showed a significant reduction of intensive care unit (ICU) admission (risk ratio = 0.59, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.41, 0.84], P = 0.003), and higher change in vitamin D level (standardized mean difference = 2.27, 95% CI [2.08, 2.47], P < 0.00001) compared to the control group. Other studied hospital and laboratory outcomes showed non-significant difference between vitamin D and the control group (P ≥ 0.05).In conclusion, vitamin D reduced the risk of ICU admission and showed superiority in changing vitamin D level compared to the control group. However, other outcomes showed no difference between the two groups. More RCTs are needed to confirm these results.

Efficacy of dance for Parkinson's disease: a pooled analysis of 372 patients.

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that presents with motor and nonmotor symptoms such as bradykinesia, resting tremor, postural instability, and cognitive and neuropsychiatric manifestations. Dance therapy or complex motor activity, besides pharmacological treatment, may have benefits in PD patients. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of dance in patients with PD. METHODS: We searched for clinical trials in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, and Cochrane till April 2020 using relevant keywords. Data were extracted and pooled as mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) by Review Manager 5.3. RESULTS: Fourteen randomized controlled trials with 372 patients were included. Dance showed a significant improvement over the control group in term of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale III (UPDRS III) after three (MD = - 4.49, 95% CI [- 6.78, - 2.21], p = 0.00001), six, (MD = - 5.96, 95% CI [- 8.89, - 3.02], p < 0.0001), and 12 months (MD = - 14.58, 95% CI [- 24.76, - 4.4], p = 0.005), and Mini-BES test after 12 months. Compared to exercise, dance showed a significant improvement in Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and Mini-BES test. CONCLUSION: In comparison to other types of exercise or no activity, dance improves the symptoms and outcomes in patients with PD, especially motor symptoms. Dance also has positive effects on balance, functional mobility, and cognition.