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. 2023 Jun;71(6):1773-1784.
doi: 10.1111/jgs.18247. Epub 2023 Jan 30.

Vitamin D supplementation and cognition-Results from analyses of the D-Health trial

Hai Pham  1   2 , Mary Waterhouse  1 , Sabbir Rahman  1 , Catherine Baxter  1 , Briony Duarte Romero  1 , Donald S A McLeod  1   3 , Bruce K Armstrong  4 , Peter R Ebeling  5 , Dallas R English  6 , Gunter Hartel  7 , Michael G Kimlin  8 , Rachel L O'Connell  9 , Jolieke C van der Pols  10 , Alison J Venn  11 , Penelope M Webb  1   2 , David C Whiteman  1   2 , Osvaldo P Almeida  12 , Rachel E Neale  1   2
Affiliations

Vitamin D supplementation and cognition-Results from analyses of the D-Health trial

Hai Pham et al. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2023 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Observational studies have consistently found a link between low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and higher risk of cognitive impairment. Results from randomized controlled trials have been mixed, and few have been conducted in the general population.

Methods: We recruited 21,315 community-dwelling Australians aged between 60 and 84 years to participate in the D-Health Trial, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The intervention was monthly oral doses of 60,000 international units of vitamin D or placebo for 5 years. We assessed cognitive function in a randomly sampled group of participants aged ≥70 years using the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) at 2 and 5 years after randomization. The primary outcome for this analysis was TICS score; the secondary outcome was the proportion of people who had cognitive impairment (defined as TICS score ≤25). We analyzed data using mixed models (linear and logistic).

Results: We interviewed 3887 participants at year 2 and 3614 participants at year 5. The mean TICS score at these time points was 32.3 and 32.2, respectively. Vitamin D supplementation did not affect cognitive function as measured by TICS score (mean difference between vitamin D and placebo groups 0.04; 95% CI -0.14 to 0.23), or alter risk of cognitive impairment (odds ratio 1.00; 95% CI 0.75 to 1.33).

Conclusions: Monthly bolus doses of vitamin D supplementation neither enhanced nor hindered cognitive function among older adults. Population-wide vitamin D supplementation of older adults that are largely vitamin D replete is unlikely to substantially benefit cognition.

Keywords: cognition; randomized controlled trial; vitamin D supplementation.

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