A new study found no concrete evidence to suggest that vitamin D supplements are effective in preventing accidental falls in older people.
In January this year, the American Geriatrics Society published a report endorsing Vitamin D to prevent falls and subsequent factures in older adults. Debunking this hypothesis, University of Auckland researchers stated that a newly conducted study found no such association between the vitamin and reduced risk of accidental falls.
For the study, researchers examined the findings of 20 randomized controlled trials which tested the potential of vitamin D supplements to reduce falls in approximately 29535 people. They found that vitamin D supplements reduced fall risks by less than 15 percent, suggesting that the amount that vitamin D supplementation reduces fall risk at a population level is very low.
Several studies have associated lower fall risks with vitamin D supplements, driving many physicians and health experts to recommend these supplements to older adults. However, Dr Mark Bolland of the University of Auckland said that the findings of most of these studies have been mixed and there is insufficient evidence to support prescribing vitamin D to reduce falls.
The researchers of the study also highlighted that previous studies failed to state whether vitamin D might reduce falls in particularly vulnerable older people or for all older adults. This may be because most of these studies have reported their findings based on only the total number of falls in the study population rather than the number of falls per person in the study.
"Whether a large trial is feasible in this vulnerable population remains to be established. Until then, we are left with uncertainty about the benefits of vitamin D supplementation for reduction in fall risk, particularly among vulnerable older people," Clifford Rosen of Maine Medical Research Institute, Scarborough, USA, and Christine Taylor of the National Institutes of Health said in a statement.
Accidental falls can be life threatening for older adults. Falls can cause moderate to severe injuries, such as hip fractures and head traumas, and can increase the risk of early death. Fortunately, falls are a public health problem that is largely preventable. According to the CDC, one out of three older adults aged above 65 years falls every year.
In January this year, the same research team published a report suggesting healthy people may not benefit as much from Vitamin D as it doesn't have a significant effect on preventing heart attacks, stroke, cancer or bone fractures in such people.
The study was published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal and funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand.
