Does vitamin D stop inpatients falling? A randomised controlled trial.

Randomized controlled trial in acutely admitted geriatric inpatients aged >65 years in a geriatric medical unit in Scotland, UK. Participants were frail older adults with multiple comorbidities hospitalized during an acute inpatient stay.

Oral cholecalciferol 800 IU plus calcium carbonate 1,200 mg once daily, continued until hospital discharge or death. The active regimen was compared with calcium-only control.

Vitamin D plus calcium did not reduce falls in this geriatric inpatient population. The number of fallers was 36/100 in the intervention group versus 45 in control, with RR 0.82 (95% CI 0.59 to 1.16; P = 0.263); mean falls were 1.040 versus 1.155 (P = 0.435). Time to first fall was also not different (P = 0.377), and fractures were rare with no significant difference (1 vs control, P = 0.327). The authors concluded that routine vitamin D plus calcium supplementation cannot be recommended to prevent falls in this setting.

Single inpatient-unit trial with a relatively small sample and variable hospital length of stay, which limits power and generalizability. The intervention was only given until discharge or death, and the biochemical subgroup was small. Adverse events and adherence were reported, but the study was not clearly powered for fractures or other less frequent safety outcomes.