vitamin D supplementation and fracture risk in healthy adults

Last edited 06/2023 and last reviewed 09/2023

Vitamin D supplementation and fracture risk in healthy adults

• in an ancillary study of the Vitamin D and Omega-3 Trial (VITAL) (1)
  • tested whether supplemental vitamin D3 would result in a lower risk of fractures than placebo
  • VITAL was a two-by-two factorial, randomized, controlled trial that investigated whether supplemental vitamin D3 (2000 IU per day), n-3 fatty acids (1 g per day), or both would prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease in men 50 years of age or older and women 55 years of age or older in the United States
  • participants were not recruited on the basis of vitamin D deficiency, low bone mass, or osteoporosis
  • primary end points were incident total, nonvertebral, and hip fractures
  • showed that:
    • Vitamin D3 supplementation did not result in a significantly lower risk of fractures than placebo among generally healthy midlife and older adults who were not selected for vitamin D deficiency, low bone mass, or osteoporosis
      
      
• a review concludes (2):
  • effectiveness of vitamin D supplements for fracture prevention in healthy middle-aged and older people is unclear
  • in this study, vitamin D showed no benefit over placebo in incidence of total, non-vertebral and hip fractures

Reference

• Le Boff MS et al. Supplemental Vitamin D and Incident Fractures in Midlife and Older Adults N Engl J Med 2022; 387:299-309 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2202106
• Vitamin D supplementation and fracture risk in healthy adults. Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin Published Online First: 09 June 2023. doi: 10.1136/dtb.2023.000028