Research paper
Effects of Vitamin D and Calcium Supplementation on Falls: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Study answer
What this study found
Vitamin D plus calcium was superior to calcium alone for fall prevention over 12 weeks, reducing falls by 49% in adjusted Poisson regression (95% CI, 14-71%; p = 0.01). The number of fallers did not differ significantly between groups (RR 0.7; 95% CI, 0.3-1.5), but musculoskeletal function improved in the vitamin D plus calcium group (p = 0.0094). The combination also increased 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D and decreased iPTH, alkaline phosphatase, urinary DPD, and urinary NTX. Overall, the findings support vitamin D plus calcium as more effective than calcium alone for…
- Study & population
- Randomized controlled trial in frail elderly women living in long-stay geriatric care units in Switzerland.
- Intervention
- The active intervention was oral vitamin D plus calcium: two tablets per day, each containing 600 mg calcium carbonate and 400 IU cholecalciferol, taken twice daily with breakfast and dinner for 12 weeks.
- Key limitation
- The trial was small, short term, and limited to institutionalized elderly women in Switzerland, which restricts generalizability.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
Specific receptors for vitamin D have been identified in human muscle tissue. Cross‐sectional studies show that elderly persons with higher vitamin D serum levels have increased muscle strength and a lower number of falls. We hypothesized that vitami…