ArticleEuropean journal of nutrition2021
Vitamin D and COVID-19 infection and mortality in UK Biobank.
Article in European journal of nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 67 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
67 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 136 citations in OpenAlex.
- Vitamin D Deficiency Meets Hill's Criteria for Causation in SARS-CoV-2 Susceptibility, Complications, and Mortality: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Is the vitamin D status of patients with COVID-19 associated with reduced mortality? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Archives of endocrinology and metabolism · 2023Pooled it
- Changes in 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels post-vitamin D supplementation in people of Black and Asian ethnicities and its implications during COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2022Pooled it
- Vitamins C and D and COVID-19 Susceptibility, Severity and Progression: An Evidence Based Systematic Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Pooled it
- The effect of vitamin D supplementation on mortality and intensive care unit admission of COVID-19 patients. A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression.Diabetes/metabolism research and reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Insufficient evidence for vitamin D use in COVID-19: A rapid systematic review.International journal of clinical practice · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Micronutrients Deficiency, Supplementation and Novel Coronavirus Infections-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- Low vitamin D status is associated with coronavirus disease 2019 outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2021Pooled it
- The role of vitamin D deficiency on COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.Epidemiology and health · 2021Pooled it
- Vitamin D Status and SARS-CoV-2 Infection and COVID-19 Clinical Outcomes.Frontiers in public health · 2021Pooled it
- Low Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (Vitamin D) Level Is Associated With Susceptibility to COVID-19, Severity, and Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Changes in the immune response against SARS-CoV-2 in individuals with severe COVID-19 treated with high dose of vitamin D.Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie · 2022Trial
- Exploring the Association of Vitamin D and VDR Polymorphisms with Disease Severity in COVID-19 and Influenza.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Article
- Unveiling the Interplay-Vitamin D and ACE-2 Molecular Interactions in Mitigating Complications and Deaths from SARS-CoV-2.Biology · 2024Review
- Associations between pre-infection serum vitamin D concentrations and Omicron COVID-19 incidence, severity and reoccurrence in elderly individuals.Public health nutrition · 2024Article
- Review
- Is Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Level Associated with Severity of COVID-19? A Retrospective Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
7 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeLow blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration has been proposed as a potential causal factor in COVID-19 risk. We aimed to establish whether baseline serum 25(OH)D concentration was associated with COVID-19 mortality, and inpatient confirmed COVID-19 infection, in UK Biobank participants.
methodsUK Biobank recruited 502,624 participants aged 37-73 years between 2006 and 2010. Baseline exposure data, including serum 25(OH)D concentration, were linked to COVID-19 mortality. Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were performed for the association between 25(OH)D and COVID-19 death, and Poisson regression analyses for the association between 25(OH)D and severe COVID-19 infection.
resultsComplete data were available for 341,484 UK Biobank participants, of which 656 had inpatient confirmed COVID-19 infection and 203 died of COVID-19 infection. 25(OH)D concentration was associated with severe COVID-19 infection and mortality univariably (mortality per 10 nmol/L 25(OH)D HR 0.92; 95% CI 0.86-0.98; p = 0.016), but not after adjustment for confounders (mortality per 10 nmol/L 25(OH)D HR 0.98; 95% CI = 0.91-1.06; p = 0.696). Vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency was also not independently associated with either COVID-19 infection or linked mortality.
conclusionsOur findings do not support a potential link between 25(OH)D concentrations and risk of severe COVID-19 infection and mortality. Randomised trials are needed to prove a beneficial role for vitamin D in the prevention of severe COVID-19 reactions or death.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.