Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Study suggests that vitamin D delivery via Meals on Wheels for 5 months reduced the risk of falling by 58% in the participating vitamin D group compared to control group. 

According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are the leading cause of injury among adults aged 65 years and older in the United States, and can result in severe injuries such as hip fractures and head traumas. Emergency rooms across the country received an elderly person injured from a fall every 13 seconds and records a death from a fall every 20 minutes (1).

In 2013, the cost of caring for elderly suffering falls exceeded $34 billion (1). Although most falls do not result in significant physical injury, the psychological effects of a fall often result in fear of falling and restriction of activities, leading to a loss of independence (2).

Regarding ways to help with falls in the elderly, research suggests maintaining healthy vitamin D blood levels, as they have been shown to be low (< 20 nanograms/milliliter) in older adults who suffer falls (4, 5). And with an estimated 31% of older men and 38% of older women known to have vitamin D blood levels less than 20 ng/mL (6), this may be an affordable and effective approach.

Now a new study (6) suggests home delivery of vitamin D to the elderly via Meals on Wheels may help reduce falls. In the study, 68 Meals on Wheels recipients between and ages of 66 and 82 (19 men, 49 women) received either 100,000 IU/month of vitamin D (38 subjects) or a placebo (400 IU/month vitamin E = 30 subjects) with their meal delivery for 5 months.

After 5 months, only 1 of the 34 subjects in the vitamin D group had vitamin D levels less than 20 ng/mL compared to 18 of the 25 subjects in the control group (p < 0.001). Regarding fall risk, the researchers noted a 58% reduced risk of falling in the vitamin D group compared to the control group after adjustment for sex, race, season of year, initial vitamin D blood levels, and history of falls (p < 0.05). In addition, those in the vitamin D group had a 90% compliance rate taking the vitamin D supplement.

For the researchers, “delivering vitamin D supplements through the Meals on Wheels program was feasible and improved vitamin D blood concentrations in homebound older adults” and that “Vitamin D supplementation delivered by a Meals on Wheels program may help older homebound adults remain independent in the community by improving vitamin D blood concentrations and reducing falls and their consequences.”

Source: Houston, Denise K., et al. “Delivery of a Vitamin D Intervention in Homebound Older Adults Using a Meals‐on‐Wheels Program: A Pilot Study.” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 63.9 (2015): 1861-1867.

© 2015, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2015, The American Geriatrics Society

Posted September 3, 2015.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com.

References:

  1. “Cost of Fall Injuries in Older Persons in the United States” posted on the CDC website
  2. Li F, Fisher Kj, Harmer P et al. Fear of falling in elderly persons: Association with falls, functional ability, and quality of life. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2003;58B:283–290
  3. Looker AC, Johnson CL, Lacher DA et al. Vitamin D status: United States, 2001–2006. NCHS data brief, no 59. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, 2011.
  4. Stein MS, Wark JD, Scherer SC et al. Falls relate to vitamin D and parathyroid hormone in an Australian nursing home and hostel. J Am Geriatr Soc 1999;47:1195–1201.
  5. Dhesi JK, Bearne LM, Moniz C et al. Neuromuscular and psychomotor function in elderly subjects who fall and the relationship with vitamin D status. J Bone Miner Res 2002;17:891–897.
  6. Houston DK. Delivery of a Vitamin D Intervention in Homebound Older Adults Using a Meals-on-Wheels Program: A Pilot Study. J Am Geriatr Soc 2015 Aug 16. doi: 10.1111/jgs.13610. [Epub ahead of print]