A Review of Clinical Trials about Vitamin D Supplementation's Effect on Physical Performance of Community Dwelling Oldest-Olds

Abstract

Background: Although observational studies with community dwelling older adults demonstrate that low serum 25(OH)D (vitD) negatively impacts on the health, the effects of its supplementation are still controversial. The aim of this study is to review clinical trials that evaluated the effect of vitD supplementation on physical performance in community dwelling oldest old. Methods: A comprehensive search on electronic databases, including Pubmed, Medline, LILACS and Scielo was conducted. Eligible studies were clinical trials published between January 2015 and June 2021 in Portuguese, English and Spanish. The selected articles should meet the following inclusion criteria: Included elderlies aged 80 and over, independent, community-dwelling and of both sexes. Experimental studies with dependent elderly, institutionalized, hospitalized, diagnosed with dementia, acute and/or severe diseases were excluded. Results: Out of the 11533 articles from the literature search, 21 studies met the inclusion criteria. The results suggest that vitD supplementation alone in most studies does not improve physical performance, even in populations at higher risk (elderly people with insufficiency or deficiency of this vitamin, pre-frailty and frailty, functional impairment and advanced age). When combined with resistance exercise and with other nutrients that are also important for muscle health, there seems to be an improvement in physical tests. However, the heterogeneity of the studies carried out so far contribute to still contradictory results. Conclusion: Although vitD supplementation corresponds to a potential therapy to prevent physical decline in the elderly, studies with the Brazilian population will be needed to better clarify these effects in community dwelling oldest old.