Effects of Vitamin D and Exercise on the Wellbeing of Older Community-Dwelling Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background: Evidence for the effects of exercise and vitamin D supplementation on quality of life (QoL), fear of falling (FoF) and mental wellbeing in older adults is conflicting. Objective: To study the effects of vitamin D supplementation and multimodal group exercise on psychosocial functions of wellbeing, including QoL, mental wellbeing and FoF. Method: This is a 2-year, double-blind, placebo-controlled vitamin D and open exercise intervention trial with 409 older Finnish women (70-80 years of age) randomized to 4 treatment arms: (1) placebo without exercise, (2) vitamin D (800 IU/day) without exercise, (3) placebo and exercise, and (4) vitamin D (800 IU/day) with exercise. Exercisers participated in group exercise twice per week for 12 months and once per week for the subsequent 12 months, plus home exercises. Results: When comparing with the placebo without exercise group, there were no statistically significant differences between groups receiving either vitamin D, exercise or both treatments for changes in QoL or mental wellbeing (although a slight decline was seen in mental wellbeing in those receiving vitamin D only, p = 0.044). The initial slight reduction in FoF was significant in all intervention groups compared with controls (p < 0.05), but this was only temporary. Conclusion: Neither vitamin D nor exercise contributes to better QoL, FoF or mental wellbeing in community-dwelling healthy older women with sufficient vitamin D levels.

The effect of high‐dose vitamin D supplementation on muscular function and quality of life in postmenopausal women—A randomized controlled trial

“…33 High-dose vitamin D did supplementation not improve quality of life as compared to standard dose. This is in accordance with other studies in elderly community-living participants 19,20 and in heart failure patients. 34 However, other studies have reported improvement in quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome 17 as well as in patients with Crohn's disease, the latter in an uncontrolled trial.…”

“…This should be highly relevant in the context of the possible pleiotropic effects of vitamin D, where quality of life could be considered a composite end‐point integrating various health effects of vitamin D. Observational studies have reported positive associations between serum 25(OH)D levels and quality of life . The results from intervention studies are, however, conflicting …”

“…15,16 The results from intervention studies are, however, conflicting. [17][18][19][20] In 2007-2009, we performed a vitamin D supplementation RCT in postmenopausal women with changes in bone mineral density as the primary end-point. 21 When planning the study, we hypothesized that a higher dose of vitamin D would be more efficient than a standard dose, and we therefore compared two different doses of vitamin D 3 co-administrated with calcium.…”

A 2-Year Follow-Up After a 2-Year RCT with Vitamin D and Exercise: Effects on Falls, Injurious Falls and Physical Functioning Among Older Women

“…Initially, 409 home-dwelling 70-80-year-old women were randomly assigned to one of four groups: (a) vitamin D 20 µg/day (800 IU) and exercise(D + Ex + ) (b) placebo and exercise(D − Ex + ) (c) vitamin D 20 µg/day without exercise(D + Ex − ), and (d) placebo without exercise (D − Ex − ). The intervention results have been reported previously ( 13 , 22 ). Of the 370 women who completed the intervention, 15 were unable or unwilling to continue with the follow-up.…”

Effect of Monthly High‐Dose Vitamin D on Mental Health in Older Adults: Secondary Analysis of a RCT

“…Neither did another trial that investigated the effect of daily 800 IU vitamin D plus 1000 mg calcium vs placebo for 6 months among 2117 women age 70 years and older . And also a third trial testing daily dosing with 800 IU vitamin D (combined with and without exercise) came to the conclusion that vitamin D does not contribute to better mental well‐being in community‐dwelling women 70 years and older . Regarding larger bolus dosing of vitamin D, one large trial among 2258 women aged 70 years and older investigated the effect of an annual high dose of 500 000 IU vitamin D compared with placebo and equally did not find a significant difference in any measures of mental health scores across the study groups.…”