ArticleEuropean journal of epidemiology2014
Is vitamin D deficiency a cause of increased morbidity and mortality at older age or simply an indicator of poor health?
Article in European journal of epidemiology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 59 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels and risk of frailty and pre-frailty in elderly adults: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies with GRADE assessment.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Vitamin D Status and Mortality: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and the risk of frailty syndrome: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.BMC geriatrics · 2018Pooled it
- Vitamin D supplementation and its influence on muscle strength and mobility in community-dwelling older persons: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2017Pooled it
- Prevalence, predictors, and clinical impact of vitamin D deficiency on 12-month outcomes in hip fracture patients.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2026Article
- Molecular predictors of incident frailty: a systematic review and critical appraisal of longitudinal evidence.GeroScience · 2026Review
- Association Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Systemic Outcomes in Patients with Glaucoma: A Real-World Cohort Study.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Vitamin D metabolites and the gut microbiota dietary index are associated with reduced all-cause mortality in US adults: a prospective cohort study.BMC nutrition · 2025Article
- Low Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D as a Risk Factor for Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older Men: A Korean Nationwide Study.Endocrinology and metabolism (Seoul, Korea) · 2025Article
- Vitamin D, premature mortality, and life expectancy among US adults.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Article
- Combined associations of vitamin D and cognitive function with all-cause mortality among older adults in Chinese longevity areas: A prospective cohort study.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Association of longitudinal repeated measurements of frailty index with mortality: Cohort study among community-dwelling older adults.EClinicalMedicine · 2022Article
- Review
- Change of vitamin D status and all-cause mortality among Chinese older adults: a population-based cohort study.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
- Dietary Quality, Sleep Quality and Muscle Mass Predicted Frailty among Chinese Postmenopausal Women in Malaysia.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Self-rated health in individuals with and without disease is associated with multiple biomarkers representing multiple biological domains.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Pinpointing a Role for Vitamin D in Frailty: A Time for Animal Models?Advances in geriatric medicine and research · 2021Article
- Vitamin D Insufficiency Reduces Grip Strength, Grip Endurance and Increases Frailty in Aged C57Bl/6J Mice.Nutrients · 2020Article
- The Association between Serum Levels of 25[OH]D, Body Weight Changes and Body Composition Indices in Patients with Heart Failure.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Article
- Plasma 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentrations Are Inversely Associated with All-Cause Mortality among a Prospective Cohort of Chinese Adults Aged ≥80 Years.The Journal of nutrition · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
To assess whether vitamin D deficiency is a cause of increased morbidity and mortality or simply an indicator of poor health, we assessed (1) the cross-sectional and longitudinal association of vitamin D deficiency with self-rated health (SRH) and frailty and (2) the association of vitamin D deficiency with mortality, with and without control for SRH and frailty. Analyses were performed in 9,579 participants of the German, population-based ESTHER cohort (age-range at baseline: 50-74 years), with follow-ups after 2, 5 and 8 years (mortality: 12 years). During follow-up, 129 subjects newly reported poor SRH, 510 developed frailty and 1,450 died. In cross-sectional analyses, subjects with vitamin D deficiency had higher odds of a poor SRH and frailty but no association with SRH or frailty was observed in longitudinal analyses. The association of vitamin D deficiency with all-cause and several cause-specific mortalities was strong and unaltered by time-dependent adjustment for classic mortality risk factors, SRH and frailty. In conclusion, vitamin D deficiency may not cause frailty or poor general health but may nevertheless be a prognostic marker for mortality, independent of the individual's morbidity.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.