Fracture treatment 2000 dollars less expensive if also use Vitamin D and Calcium – Feb 2023

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Economic Burden of Osteoporotic Patients with Fracture: Effect of Treatment With or Without Calcium/Vitamin D Supplements

Nutrition and Dietary Supplements Pages 21-30 https://doi.org/10.2147/NDS.S234911
Luca Degli Esposti,Stefania Saragoni,Valentina Perrone,Stefania Sella,Margherita Andretta,Maurizio Rossini…

Background:
Fractures represent the most important complication of osteoporosis, in terms of loss of independency, chronic pain, increased risk of mortality, but also high healthcare costs.

Objective:
To assess healthcare costs in an Italian cohort of osteoporotic patients with a fracture with and without specific osteoporosis treatment and supplementation with calcium/vitamin D.

Methods:
This retrospective observational study used data from administrative databases of five Local Health Units in Italy. Patients ≥50 years of age and hospitalized for vertebral or hip fracture occurring from 01/01/2011 to 31/12/2015 were included. Patients were then classified as “untreated” and “treated” if they had been treated or not with drugs for fracture prevention after the index fracture. We also identified subjects that were only treated with drugs for fracture prevention, “osteoporosis drug only” group, compared to the “osteoporosis drug plus calcium/vitamin D” group, in which calcium and/or vitamin D were also in combination. Healthcare cost analysis included drug expenditure, hospitalization costs (excluding costs related to the hospitalization for the index fracture) and outpatient service costs.

Results:
Three thousand four hundred and seventy-five patients were included in the present study, most of whom (58.5%) had received specific osteoporosis treatment after index fracture. Among treated patients, the vast majority (83.6%) received supplementation with calcium/vitamin D. Mean annual healthcare cost per patient was €9,289.85 in the untreated group and €4,428.26 for treated subjects (p < 0.001); mean annual healthcare cost for the osteoporosis drug-only group was higher compared to the osteoporosis drug plus calcium/vitamin D group (€5,976.88 vs €4,124.74, respectively, p < 0.001). Hospitalization costs accounted for the majority of total costs in all groups of patients.

(€5,976.88 - €4,124.74) *1.09 = $2,000
 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

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VitaminDWiki – Falls and Fractures category contains

• 258 items in FALLS and FRACTURES
• Vitamin D and Calcium cost-effectively reduce falls and fractures – April 2019
• see also Overview Seniors and Vitamin D
  • Overview Fractures and Falls and Vitamin D
  • Overview Fractures and vitamin D
  • Muscles and Vitamin D - many studies

Falls

• Fall prevention - Vitamin D is one of the ways - umbrella review Jan 2024
• Deaths due to falls doubled in just a decade (age-adjusted, perhaps decreased vitamin D) – June 2019
• Preventing Falls in Older Adults – Vitamin D combination is the best - JAMA Meta-analysis Nov 2017
• Falls cut in half by 100,000 IU vitamin D monthly - RCT 2016
• Falls reduced by a third if achieved 40 ng level vitamin D– RCT Sept 2018
  • Note: It took 6 months to get to that level. Most trials last only 3 months
• Vitamin D prevents falls – majority of meta-analyses conclude – meta-meta analysis Feb 2015
• Falls reduced by Vitamin D: 13 percent reduction if more than 700 IU – review of 38 trials – Aug 2022

Fracture

• Hip fractures are predicted by 10 factors – low Vitamin D is the biggest – Aug 2023
• Vitamin D and fractures – 24 meta-analyses and counting – Dec 2014
• Low trauma bone fractures in seniors – considering Vitamin D loading dose for all, without testing – Nov 2019
• Vitamin K (any amount and any kind) reduced bone fractures by 24 percent – meta-analysis – May 2019
• 75+ Hip fracture items in VitaminDWiki title   Click here for details

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Vitamin D also prevents fractures

Fewer bone and stress fractures with vitamin D - many studies

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Vitamin D reduces the risk of death after hip fracture by 4X

1 in 3 died after hip fracture but only 1 in 14 if add Vitamin D and exercise – RCT April 2017