Does routine vitamin D supplementation prevent fractures?

Researchers examined 32 previously published systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomised trials to find an answer. Most meta-analyses found a slight but statistically significant absolute decrease in hip fractures or any fractures with vitamin D with calcium treatment, although this advantage was not shown in studies confined to community-dwelling persons.

Vitamin D supplementation alone did not reduce hip fractures or any other fractures in any population. One finding seems clearly apparent: Providing vitamin D to community-dwellers on a regular basis is unlikely to reduce fracture rates.

The VITAL trial is the latest randomised trial to test that hypothesis: 25,000 community-dwelling adults received 2,000 IU of vitamin D3 or placebo for five years. According to results recently presented in abstract form, vitamin D supplementation did not prevent fractures, and baseline vitamin D levels did not modify the effect of supplementation.