International Digest

Vitamin D and bone fractures

Canadian Medical Association Journal 1996; 155: 428

Source: Lips P, Graafmans WC, Ooms ME, Bezemer D, Bouter LM. Vitamin D supplementation and fracture incidence in elderly persons. Ann Intern Med 1996; 124: 400-6.

To determine whether vitamin D supplementation reduces the incidence of hip and peripheral bone fractures among elderly people, researchers in Amsterdam randomly assigned 2578 people aged 70 years or older to receive vitamin D3 (400 IU/d) or a placebo for a maximum of 3.5 years. Participants were advised to eat at least three servings of dairy products per day; the mean dietary calcium intake achieved was 868 mg/d. The treatment group was found to have adequate serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in the third year of the study, whereas the placebo group was deficient in vitamin D. However, vitamin D supplementation was not found to reduce the risk of hip or peripheral bone fractures. These results were unaffected by the participants' age, sex, residence, level of compliance or outdoor activity, exposure to sunshine and mobility scores.

| CMAJ August 15, 1996 (vol 155, no 4) |