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Women very low on vitamin D were 56 percent more likely to die in nursing home – Feb 2012

Low 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Is Associated with Increased Mortality in Female Nursing Home Residents.

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2012 Feb 8.
Pilz S, Dobnig H, Tomaschitz A, Kienreich K, Meinitzer A, Friedl C, Wagner D, Piswanger-Sölkner C, März W, Fahrleitner-Pammer A.
Department of Internal Medicine (S.P., H.D., A.T., K.K., C.P.-S., A.F.-P.), Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism; Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics (A.M., W.M.); Division for Transplantation (C.F.), Department of Surgery; and Department of Internal Medicine (D.W.), Division of Nephrology, Medical University of Graz, 8036 Graz, Austria; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research (S.P.), VU University Medical Center, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Synlab Academy (W.M.), Synlab services LLC, D-68165 Mannheim, Germany; and Mannheim Institute of Public Health (W.M.), Ruperto Carola University Heidelberg, Medical Faculty Mannheim, D-68167 Mannheim, Germany.
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Context:Vitamin D deficiency contributes to skeletal diseases and is highly prevalent among institutionalized elderly patients.
Whether low 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) concentrations are an independent risk factor for mortality in these patients is, however, unclear.

Objective:We aimed to evaluate whether 25(OH)D concentrations are associated with mortality.

Design, Setting, and Participants:This is a prospective cohort study among elderly female patients (age >70 yr) recruited from 95 nursing homes in Austria.

Main Outcome Measures:We calculated Cox proportional hazard ratios (HR) for all-cause mortality according to 25(OH)D quartiles.

Results:We examined 961 study participants (age 83.7 ± 6.1 yr). Median 25(OH)D concentration was 17.5 (interquartile range 13.7-25.5) nmol/liter, and 93% of our cohort had 25(OH)D levels below 50 nmol/liter. During a mean follow-up time of 27 ± 8 months, 284 patients died. Compared with the fourth quartile (25[OH]D >25.5 nmol/liter), the age-adjusted HR (with 95% confidence interval) was 1.49 (1.07-2.10) in the first 25(OH)D quartile (25[OH]D <14.0 nmol/liter), and this association remained significant after multivariate adjustments (HR = 1.56; 95% confidence interval = 1.01-2.40).

Conclusions:This Austrian study suggests that the majority of institutionalized female patients are vitamin D deficient during winter and that there was an inverse association of 25(OH)D and mortality. These data underscore the urgent need for effective strategies for the prevention and treatment of vitamin D deficiency, in particular in the setting of nursing homes.

PMID: 22319037


See also VitaminDWiki

from Grassroots May 2010
CLICK HERE for an Vitamin D Workshop for Seniors which was held Aug 2011
Elderly vitamin D interactions

CLICK HERE for the Vitamin D Deficiencies page - which has a more complete chart for all people

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