Vitamin D supplement on prevention of fall and fracture: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: Vitamin D supplement is one of the current possible interventions to reduce fall and fracture. Despite having several studies on vitamin D supplement and fall and fracture reductions, the results are still inconclusive. We conducted a meta-analysis to examine the effect of vitamin D supplement in different forms and patient settings on fall and fracture. Methods: A systematic literature research was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to compare the effects of vitamin D supplements on fall and fracture outcomes. Random-effect models were used to compute the weighted mean difference for continuous variables and the risk ratio for binary variables. Results: Forty-seven RCTs with 58,424 participants were identified reporting on fall outcome. Twenty-four of 47 studies with 40,102 subjects also reported fracture outcome. Major populations were elderly women with age less than 80 years. Overall, vitamin D supplement demonstrated a significant effect on fall reduction, RR=0.948 (95% CI 0.914-0.984; P=.004, I2=41.52). By subgroup analyses, only vitamin D with calcium supplement significantly reduce fall incidence, RR=0.881 (95% CI 0.821-0.945; P<.001, I2=49.19). Vitamin D3 supplement decreased incidence of fall but this occurred only when vitamin D3 was supplemented with calcium. Regarding fracture outcome, vitamin D supplement failed to show fracture lowering benefit, RR=0.949 (95% CI 0.846-1.064; P=.37, I2=37.92). Vitamin D along with calcium supplement could significantly lower fracture rates, RR=0.859 (95% CI 0.741-0.996; P=.045, I2=25.48). Conclusions: The use of vitamin D supplement, especially vitamin D3 could reduce incidence of fall. Only vitamin D with calcium supplement showed benefit in fracture reduction.