Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38997531›Full record

SynthesisJournal of general internal medicine2024

Vitamin D Supplementation and the Incidence of Fractures in the Elderly Healthy Population: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Mariana de Moura de Souza, Rachel Louise Moraes Dantas, Vitor Leão Durães, Maria Luiza Rodrigues Defante, Thiago Bosco Mendes

Abstract readMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of general internal medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Top studies of 2024 relevant to primary care: From the PEER team.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2025
    Review
  8. Vitamin D and fracture prevention.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Mariana de Moura de SouzaDepartment of Internal Medicine, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil. marisdemoura@gmail.com.ORCID 0009-0002-4506-0472
Rachel Louise Moraes DantasDepartment of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1640-9057
Vitor Leão DurãesDivision of Medicine, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil.ORCID 0009-0007-7177-1514
Maria Luiza Rodrigues DefanteDivision of Medicine, Redentor University Center, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0003-0524-5616
Thiago Bosco MendesDepartment of Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8349-3303

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionAlthough a well-established component of bone metabolism, the efficacy and safety of vitamin D supplementation for the prevention of fractures in elderly healthy individuals is still unclear. PURPOSE: To perform a meta-analysis comparing vitamin D supplementation with placebo and its contributions on fracture incidence.

methodsThis meta-analysis was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO), under protocol CRD42023484979. We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Central databases from inception to November 2023 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing vitamin D supplementation versus placebo in individuals with 60 years of age or more and without bone related medical conditions such as cancer and osteoporosis.

resultsSeven RCTs with 71,899 patients were included, of whom 36,822 (51.2%) were women. There was no significant difference in total fracture incidence (RR 1.03; 95% CI 0.93-1.14; p = 0.56; I

conclusionVitamin D supplementation does not reduce the total fracture development rate in the elderly healthy population, and it may increase the incidence of hip fractures among elderly healthy women. This finding suggests refraining from prescribing high intermittent doses of vitamin D, without calcium, to individuals aged 60 or older with unknown vitamin D serum concentration or osteoporosis status and inadequate calcium intake.

Indexed as

Dietary SupplementsRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicVitamin DAgedFemaleFractures, BoneHumansIncidenceMaleMiddle AgedVitamin DElderlyFractureHip fracturesSupplementsVitamin D

Identifiers

PMID38997531
PMCPMC11534935

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.