Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2017 Feb;30(1):3-15.
doi: 10.1111/jhn.12394. Epub 2016 Jul 27.

Vitamin D supplementation and its influence on muscle strength and mobility in community-dwelling older persons: a systematic review and meta-analysis

H Rosendahl-Riise  1 , U Spielau  2   3 , A H Ranhoff  1   4 , O A Gudbrandsen  3 , J Dierkes  3
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Vitamin D supplementation and its influence on muscle strength and mobility in community-dwelling older persons: a systematic review and meta-analysis

H Rosendahl-Riise et al. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2017 Feb.

Erratum in

Abstract

Background: It has been suggested that vitamin D status or supplementation is important for maintaining or improving muscle strength and mobility in older adults. The study results, however, do not provide consistent results. We therefore aimed to summarise the available evidence systematically, including only studies conducted in community-dwelling older persons.

Methods: A systematic search of the literature was performed in April of 2016. The systematic review includes studies that used vitamin D with or without calcium supplementation as the exposure variable and various measurements of muscle strength and mobility. The meta-analysis was limited to studies using hand grip strength (HGS) and timed-up-and-go test as the outcome variables.

Results: A total of 15 studies out of 2408 articles from the literature search were included in the systematic review, providing 2866 participants above the age of 65 years. In the majority of studies, no improvement in muscle strength and mobility was observed after administration of vitamin D with or without calcium supplements. In the meta-analysis, we observed a nonsignificant change in HGS [+0.2 kg (95% confidence interval = -0.25 to 0.7 kg; seven studies)] and a small, significant increase in the timed-up-and-go test [0.3 s (95% confidence interval = 0.1 to 0.5 s; five studies)] after vitamin D supplementation. The meta-analyses showed a high degree of heterogeneity between the studies.

Conclusions: In conclusion, we observed no improvement in muscle strength after the administration of vitamin D with or without calcium supplements. We did find a small but significant deterioration of mobility. However, this is based on a limited number of studies and participants.

Keywords: ageing; gait; hand strength; muscle strength; vitamin D.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of the selection of studies on the effect of vitamin D supplementation with or without calcium supplements on muscle strength and mobility in the present systematic review and meta‐analysis. RCT, randomised controlled trial.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Results of the meta‐analysis of the effect of vitamin D supplementation with or without calcium on hand grip strength (kg) (n = 7 studies). The results were obtained using a random effects model. One study reported results for men and women separately (Lagari a – men and Lagari b – women). For one study, we have divided the comparator group in two (Wood‐a and Wood‐b). CI, confidence interval.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Results of the meta‐analysis of the effect of vitamin D supplementation with or without calcium on timed‐up‐and‐go (TUG) (n = 5 studies). The results were obtained using a random effects model. CI, confidence interval.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Cruz‐Jentoft AJ, Baeyens JP, Bauer JM et al (2010) Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis: report of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. Age Ageing 39, 412–423. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Morley JE (2012) Sarcopenia in the elderly. Fam Pract 29(Suppl 1), i44–i48. - PubMed
    1. Smedshaug GB, Pedersen JI & Meyer HE (2007) Can vitamin D supplementation improve grip strength in elderly nursing home residents? A double‐blinded controlled trial. Scand J Food Nutr 51, 74–78.
    1. Bacon CJ, Gamble GD, Horne AM et al (2009) High‐dose oral vitamin D3 supplementation in the elderly. Osteoporos Int 20, 1407–1415. - PubMed
    1. Gallagher JC (2004) The effects of calcitriol on falls and fractures and physical performance tests. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 89–90, 497–501. - PubMed