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A Pooled Analysis of Vitamin D Dose Requirements for Fracture Prevention
New England Journal of Medicine, 07/11/2012
Clinical Article
Bischoff–Ferrari HA et al. – High–dose vitamin D supplementation was somewhat favorable in the prevention of hip fracture and any nonvertebral fracture in persons 65 years of age or older.
Methods- The authors pooled participant–level data from 11 double–blind, randomized, controlled trials of oral vitamin D supplementation (daily, weekly, or every 4 months), with or without calcium, as compared with placebo or calcium alone in persons 65 years of age or older.
- Primary end points were the incidence of hip and any nonvertebral fractures according to Cox regression analyses, with adjustment for age group, sex, type of dwelling, and study.
- The authors included 31,022 persons (mean age, 76 years; 91% women) with 1111 incident hip fractures and 3770 nonvertebral fractures.
- Participants who were randomly assigned to receive vitamin D, as compared with those assigned to control groups, had a nonsignificant 10% reduction in the risk of hip fracture (hazard ratio, 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.01) and a 7% reduction in the risk of nonvertebral fracture (hazard ratio, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.87 to 0.99).
- By quartiles of actual intake, reduction in the risk of fracture was shown only at the highest intake level (median, 800 IU daily; range, 792 to 2000), with a 30% reduction in the risk of hip fracture (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.58 to 0.86) and a 14% reduction in the risk of any nonvertebral fracture (hazard ratio, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.76 to 0.96).
- Benefits at the highest level of vitamin D intake were fairly consistent across subgroups defined by age group, type of dwelling, baseline 25–hydroxyvitamin D level, and additional calcium intake.