Vitamin-D-fortified liquid milk--a highly effective method of vitamin D administration for house-bound and institutionalised elderly

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy and acceptability of vitamin-D-fortified liquid milk in the management of hypovitaminosis D in an elderly institutionalised population. The design was a single-blind randomised controlled study. In phase I, patients were encouraged to drink an increased quantity of either fortified or unsupplemented milk for 3 months. In phase II, patients were continued on either fortified or on unsupplemented milk which was given as part of the everyday diet for a further 6 months with no extra encouragement of any patient to take additional amounts. Ninety-eight patients (mean age 84 years) from extended care wards at the Department of Medicine for the Elderly, St. James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland, participated in the study. Seventy-eight patients completed phase I, and 62 completed phase II. A general biochemical screen and 25-hydroxy vitamin D measurements were performed at entry and repeated 3 and 9 months later. The average milk intake per patient in phase I was 454 ml/day in the unsupplemented group and 359 ml/day in the fortified milk group. In phase II, the average daily milk intake per patient was 235 ml in the unsupplemented milk group and 140 ml in the fortified milk group. Seventy-four patients (94%) of the total who completed phase I had serum vitamin D baseline levels below the normal range. In the fortified milk group, mean vitamin D levels rose from 2.4 to 14.80 ng/ml (p < 0.001) at the end of phase I and remained significantly elevated at 10.2 ng/ml (p < 0.001) at the end of phase II.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)