Death within 1 year if over age 80: low vitamin D was almost the strongest reason – Aug 2024

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On-admission serum 25(OH)D level and mortality within one year in older patients

BMC Geriatrics (2024) 24:664 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-024-05166-z
Nadav Abel , Felicia Stern and Sari Tal

Background Mounting evidence suggests that vitamin D deficiency is associated with a higher risk of many chronic non-skeletal, age-associated diseases as well as mortality.

Aim To determine, in older patients aged > 80, the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its association with comorbidity, laboratory tests, length of stay and mortality within one year from blood withdrawal on admission to acute geriatrics ward.
Methods We retrospectively surveyed electronic hospital health records of 830 older patients. The recorded data included patient demographics (e.g., age, sex, stay duration, readmissions number, death within one year from blood withdrawal on admission), medical diagnoses, laboratory results, including 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], and medications. We compared the characteristics of the patients who survived to those who died within one year.

Results On admission, in 53.6% patients, vitamin D levels were lower than 50 nmol/L, and in 32%, the levels were < 35 nmol/L. Persons who died were likely to be older, of male sex, were likely to be admitted for pneumonia or CHF, were likely to have lower level of albumin or hemoglobin, lower level of vitamin D or higher vitamin B12 and higher level of creatinine, were also likely to have had a lengthier hospitalization stay, a greater number of hospitalizations in the last year, a higher number of comorbidities, to have consumption of >5 drugs or likely to being treated with insulin, diuretics, antipsychotics, anticoagulants or benzodiazepines. Higher age, male sex, on-admission CHF, higher number of drugs, lower albumin, higher vitamin B12, vitamin D < 50 nmol/L, and consumption of antipsychotics and anticoagulants - were predictors of mortality.

Conclusion Hypovitaminosis D is predictive of mortality in older patients within one year from hospitalization in the acute geriatric ward, but a causal relationship cannot be deduced. Nevertheless, older patients in acute care settings, because of their health vulnerability, should be considered for vitamin D testing. In the acutely ill patients, early intervention with vitamin D might improve outcomes. Accurate evaluation of mortality predictors in this age group patients may be more challenging and require variables that were not included in our study.
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VitaminDWiki – Mortality category contains:

People die sooner if they have low vitamin D

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• More vitamin D means fewer deaths – many studies
• Much more likely to live longer if higher vitamin D – 27,000 seniors Feb 2017
• 2,000 IU of Vitamin D daily to German Seniors would save 30,000 lives a year – March 2021
• Dr. Grant on vitamin D and mortality in VitaminDWiki
• Top 10 causes of death - low vitamin D is associated with every cause - Nov 2018
• Taking vitamin D extends life - 56 trials with 100,000 people - Dr. Greger video July 2016
• Much more likely to live longer if higher vitamin D – 27,000 seniors Feb 2017
• Low Vitamin D is associated with dying sooner (70 studies) – meta-analysis Jan 2019
• 4.8 X more likely to die within 28 days of ICU if low Vitamin D - Jan 2024
• Chance of dying in hospital cut in half by just 10 ng higher level of Vitamin D – April 2016
• Senior women having low vitamin D were 2X more likely to die - Sept 2023
• Risk of death after bone fracture was 6.6 X higher if less than 10 ng of vitamin D – June 2017

There are 319 articles in Mortality category