Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation, Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation, or a Strength-Training Exercise Program on Clinical Outcomes in Older Adults: The DO-HEALTH Randomized Clinical Trial.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Who Took Part

The study group was 2157 adults.

PubMed indexes the participants as older adults and people over 80, both men and women.

Double-blind, placebo-controlled, 2 × 2 × 2 factorial randomized clinical trial among 2157 adults aged 70 years or older who had no major health events in the 5 years prior to enrollment and had sufficient mobility and good cognitive status.

Patients were recruited between December 2012 and November 2014, and final follow-up was in November 2017.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

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

Neither the adults nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Some adults received a placebo instead of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, giving a reference point.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Cholecalciferol, Cognition Disorders, Dietary Supplements, Fatty Acids, Omega-3, Fractures, Bone, Health Status and Hypertension.

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 2157 adults.

With several hundred people or more, it is a fairly large study for this kind of research.

Its findings take up roughly 10 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2020 (JAMA), a journal based in United States.

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