50,000 IU vitamin D routinely given monthly in New Zealand senior homes since 2011

Created April 2018

Vitamin D status and its predictors in New Zealand aged-care residents eligible for a government-funded universal vitamin D supplementation programme.

Public Health Nutr. 2016 Dec;19(18):3349-3360. Epub 2016 Jul 25.

MacDonell SO 1: sue.macdonell@otago.ac.nz, Miller JC1, Harper MJ1, Waters DL2, Houghton LA1.

Clipped from PDF * ..."implemented nationwide in New Zealand by 2011" * ..."recommends a loading dose of 2500 µg (100 000 IU) cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) in the first month followed by a maintenance dose of 1250 µg (50 000 IU) monthly thereafter for life" * no Vitamin D testing - offered to all * "Overall our study shows that the uptake of the government-funded vitamin D supplementation programme was high, with three-quarters of participants receiving monthly vitamin D supplementation, ..." * ". In the present study, we did not collect information regarding the incidence of falls or fractures and thus cannot determine the impact of the supplementation programme on skeletal outcomes" * "The very low cost (less than $NZ 5/person per year)..." --- * Overview Seniors and Vitamin D * Falls and Fractures category listing has items along with related searches 13 reasons why many seniors need more vitamin D (both dose and level) - July 2023 has the following {include}

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OBJECTIVE:

The provision of prescribed vitamin D to all aged-care residents has been implemented in New Zealand as part of a government-led falls prevention programme. To our knowledge, there has been no evaluation of this universal programme on vitamin D status and functional and health outcomes. Thus, we aimed to determine 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations and their predictors in aged-care residents across the country and to investigate whether the government-funded programme was associated with adequate vitamin D status.

DESIGN:

Cross-sectional survey of sociodemographic, biochemical, anthropometric, dietary and health characteristics. Blood samples were analysed for serum 25(OH)D and other biochemical measures. Multiple regression was used to examine predictors of vitamin D status.

SETTING: Sixteen residential aged-care facilities throughout New Zealand.

SUBJECTS: Residents aged ≥60 years with residency duration >12 weeks (n 309).

RESULTS:

Mean serum 25(OH)D was 89·9 (95 % CI 85·2, 94·5) nmol/l and monthly supplements (1250 µg (50 000 IU)) were taken by 75 % of all residents. Of those not taking a funded supplement, 65·3 % had serum 25(OH)D 125 nmol/l.

CONCLUSIONS:

Residents taking supplemental vitamin D had adequate vitamin D status; however monitoring of long-term supplementation should be considered, due to the high proportion of participants with high serum 25(OH)D levels.

PMID: 27453540 DOI: 10.1017/S1368980016001683

Tags: AU, NZ Seniors