Calcium Mono-Therapy Supplement Use Among Patients Treated For Bone Fractures In A Tertiary Hospital, Southwest Nigeria

Research Article
Olakulehin O.A, Adeomi A.A and Amuwa C.O.F
DOI: 
xxx-xxxxx-xxxx
Subject: 
science
KeyWords: 
Calcium mono-therapy supplement, Bone fractures and bone healing
Abstract: 

Fractures healed normally independent of dietary calcium for the first few weeks of healing. Adequacy of serum calcium level is important, but unusual high intake does not appear to speed up fracture healing process, rather it could have deleterious effect on the cardiovascular system. Complex multi-nutrient do reduce complications in fracture management whereas Non-steroidal anti- inflammatory drugs and Cox-2 inhibitor drugs impaired fracture healing. Questionnaire based prospective study was designed to ascertain the prevalence of calcium supplement use among 101 consecutive patient being managed for fractures, inpatient and outpatient care inclusive. 57.4% (58) of the respondents were on calcium supplements, out of which only 12.1% were prescribed by the attending physicians. Males were 2.52 times more likely to use calcium than females, in-patients were 4.69 times more likely to use calcium than out-patients and those with poor perception about calcium usage were 10.56 times more likely to use calcium than those with good perception. There is a need to regulate calcium mono-therapy supplement among the patients being treated for fractures by instituting a hospital policy on it. Patient education has to be improved on to minimize the potential danger of calcium mono-therapy supplements.