Study protocol for prevention of falls: a randomized controlled trial of effects of vitamin D and exercise on falls prevention.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, published as a randomized controlled trial.

In addition to physical activity, vitamin D also may affect balance and neuromuscular function.

Balance represents a complex motor skill determined by reaction time, muscle strength, and speed and coordination of movement.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are older adults and people over 80, women only.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Because people in this Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Blinding on both sides kept the participants and researchers unaware of who received Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc group a baseline to be compared against.

The primary outcomes are the rate of falls and fall-related injuries.

Secondary outcomes include changes in neuromuscular functioning (e.g. body balance, muscle strength), ADL- and mobility functions, bone density and structure, cardiovascular risk factors, quality of life and fear of falling.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Accidental Falls, Exercise, Exercise Therapy, Motor Activity, Risk Factors and Vitamin D.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Its findings take up roughly 1 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2012 (BMC geriatrics), a journal based in England.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.