Effect of isolated vitamin D supplementation on the rate of falls and postural balance in postmenopausal women fallers: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

What Was Tested

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

To evaluate the effect of isolated vitamin D supplementation (VITD) on the rate of falls and postural balance in postmenopausal women fallers.

Who Took Part

The study group was 160 women.

The age groups tagged for this paper are middle-aged adults and older adults, women only.

Women with amenorrhea at least 12 months, age 50 to 65 years, and a history of falls (previous 12 months) were included.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

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

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc could be set against what happens without it.

Those with neurological or musculoskeletal disorders, vestibulopathies, drugs use that could affect balance and osteoporosis were excluded.

The intervention time was 9 months.

Postural balance was assessed by stabilometry (computerized force platform) and investigation on the occurrence/recurrence of falls was performed by interviews.

The plasma concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Statistical analysis was achieved by intention-to-treat, using analysis of variance, Student's t test, Tukey test, chi-square, and logistic regression.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Accidental Falls, Bone Density Conservation Agents, Brazil, Calcifediol, Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal, Postmenopause and Postural Balance.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 160 women.

Its findings take up roughly 4 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2016 (Menopause (New York, N.Y.)), a journal based in United States.

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