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. 2023 Jun 1;23(2):205-214.

Association of vitamins B12 and D3 with Balance and Falls in a sample of Greek older people

Konstantinos Stolakis  1 , Panagiotis Megas  2 , Elias Panagiotopoulos  3 , Manolis Mentis  4 , Eleftheria Antoniadou  5 , Xristina Kalivioti  5 , Minos Tyllianakis  2 , Zinon Kokkalis  2
Affiliations

Association of vitamins B12 and D3 with Balance and Falls in a sample of Greek older people

Konstantinos Stolakis et al. J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. .

Abstract

Objectives: Balance disorders and falls are common in the elderly and have a multifactorial etiology. The purpose of the present cross-sectional study is to evaluate a possible association between vitamins D3 and B12 and impaired balance and falls.

Methods: Ninety patients, females and males, were evaluated, from December 2019 to December 2020 during their first ambulatory visit at the Prevention of Falls Clinic of the General University Hospital of Patras. Vitamins B12 and D3 levels were measured. The number of falls during the last 12 months was recorded and patients were assessed using Mini-Balance Evaluation Systems Test (Mini-BESTest), Fried Phenotype, Walking Speed, Hand Grip Strength, Short Physical Performance Battery.

Results: A multiple linear regression analysis showed that Mini-BESTest are statistically significantly predicted, F(10,79)=18.734, p<0.001, adj. R2=0.70 from Vit-B12 and FRIED Phenotype (pre-frail vs non-frail). Similarly, in the multiple binary logistic regression analysis, falls were statistically significantly predicted from FRIED Phenotype (pre-frail vs non-frail) χ2(5)=63.918, p<0.001, Nagelkerke R Squared=0.68.

Conclusions: Higher levels of vitamins B12 but not of D3 are associated with better balance but not with less falls in a sample of community-dwelling older people.

Keywords: Balance; Falls; Mini-BESTest; Vitamin B12; Vitamin D.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Level of vitamin B12 and D3 for falls.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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