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Insufficient vitamin D levels were linked to earlier death in older men living in Thailand, according to findings published in Geriatrics and Gerontology International.

“A body of evidence has been accumulating about vitamin D status and multiple health outcomes, including falls, fractures, cancer, cardiometabolic diseases and mortality. The literature on the effect of vitamin D on mortality, however, remains inconsistent,” Varalak Srinonprasert, MD, an associate professor in the department of medicine at Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University in Bangkok, and colleagues wrote.

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Researchers analyzed survey data from 2008 in 1,268 older adults (median age, 74 years) from a national database in Thailand, then linked the information to a 2015 vital registry.

They found 24.5% of the men and 43.9% of the women had insufficient vitamin D levels, but the low levels were only significantly associated with all-cause mortality in men (adjusted HR = 1.77; 95% CI, 1.25-2.51). In addition, diabetes was a modifier effect in men with diabetes who had insufficient vitamin D levels (HR = 3.34; 95% CI, 1.76-6.33).

Insufficient vitamin D levels were linked to earlier death in older men living in Thailand.
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“Most <previous> studies focused on <vitamin>D insufficiency] and diabetic control or the risk of having concurrent cardiovascular diseases, whereas limited study explored the risk of death among diabetes patients with <vitamin>D insufficiency],” Srinonprasert and colleagues wrote.

“Unfortunately, data on the specific cause of death were not available in the analysis of the present study. It was, thus, impossible to prove whether the increased mortality with vitamin D deficiency was related to cardiovascular mortality or not. Although the present study reported a fairly low prevalence of self-reported cardiovascular diseases, it is likely to be a reporting bias.” – by Janel Miller