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
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2022 May 1;115(5):1311-1321.
doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqac022.

Effects of vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, and a simple home strength exercise program on fall prevention: the DO-HEALTH randomized clinical trial

Heike A Bischoff-Ferrari  1   2   3 , Gregor Freystätter  1   2   3 , Bruno Vellas  4   5 , Bess Dawson-Hughes  6 , Reto W Kressig  7 , John A Kanis  8   9 , Walter C Willett  10 , JoAnn E Manson  11 , René Rizzoli  12 , Robert Theiler  1   2 , Lorenz C Hofbauer  13   14 , Gabriele Armbrecht  15 , José A P da Silva  16   17 , Michael Blauth  18 , Caroline de Godoi Rezende Costa Molino  1   2 , Wei Lang  1   2 , Uwe Siebert  19   20   21 , Andreas Egli  1   2 , Endel J Orav  22 , Maud Wieczorek  1   2 ; DO-HEALTH Research Group
Collaborators, Affiliations
Free article
Randomized Controlled Trial

Effects of vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, and a simple home strength exercise program on fall prevention: the DO-HEALTH randomized clinical trial

Heike A Bischoff-Ferrari et al. Am J Clin Nutr. .
Free article

Abstract

Background: The roles of vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, and home exercise on fall prevention among generally healthy and active older adults are unclear.

Objectives: We tested the effects of daily supplemental vitamin D, daily supplemental marine omega-3s fatty acids, and a simple home exercise program (SHEP), alone or in combination, on the incidences of total and injurious falls among generally healthy older adults.

Methods: We performed a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial-design randomized controlled trial among 2157 community-dwelling adults aged 70 years and older, who had no major health events in the 5 years prior to enrolment, recruited from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, and Portugal between December 2012 and November 2014. Participants were randomly assigned to supplementation with 2000 international units/day of vitamin D3 and/or 1 g/day of marine omega-3s, and/or a SHEP compared with placebo and/or control exercise over 3 years. The primary endpoint for the present fall analysis was the incidence rate of total falls. Falls were recorded prospectively throughout the trial. Since there were no interactions between treatments, the main effects are reported based on a modified intent-to-treat analysis.

Results: Of 2157 randomized participants, 1900 (88%) completed the study. The mean age was 74.9 years, 61.7% were women, 40.7% had a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration < 20 ng/ml, and 83% were at least moderately physically active. In total, 3333 falls were recorded over a median follow-up of 2.99 years. Overall, vitamin D and the SHEP had no benefit on total falls, whilst supplementation with omega-3s compared to no omega-3 supplementation reduced total falls by 10% (incidence rate ratio = 0.90; 95% CI, 0.81-1.00; P = 0.04).

Conclusions: Among generally healthy, active, and vitamin D-replete older adults, omega-3 supplementation may have a modest benefit on the incidence of total falls, whilst a daily high dose of vitamin D or a SHEP had no benefit.

Keywords: DO-HEALTH; exercise; falls; older adults; omega-3s; prevention; vitamin D.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types