The Relationship Between Vitamin D Status and Bone Mineral Density in the Elderly: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Vitamin D plays an extremely crucial role for the development, growth, and maintenance of a healthy skeleton, and vitamin D deficiency is a contribute factor for osteoporosis and relating fractures. The purpose of this study was to conduct a review that elucidated vitamin D status and bone mineral density in the elderly through reviewing the literatures. English-language searches of the electronic databases in Google Scholar, ScienceDirect and PubMed were conducted from 1960 to April 2019, using the following search terms: ‘Vitamin D status’, ‘bone mineral density’, ‘osteoporosis’ and ‘the elderly’. This study is of eighteen papers, the majority of subjects are from Europe, with 11 studies (55%) investigating the association between the vitamin D status and BMD on them. The overall results of this study found no consistent association between the serum 25(OH)D concentration and BMD in elderly people. Several factors, such as races, countries, measuring means, and different lifestyle habits would have an impact on vitamin D status and its relationship with BMD.