Vitamin D and COVID-19 Severity in Hospitalized Older Patients: Potential Benefit of Prehospital Vitamin D Supplementation
François Parant, Justin Bouloy, Julie Haesebaert, Lamia Bendim’red, Karine Goldet, Philippe Vanhems, Laetitia Henaff, Thomas Gilbert, Charlotte Cuerq, Emilie Blond, Muriel Bost, Marc Bonnefoy
Nutrients, doi:10.3390/nu14081641
Studies involving the associations between vitamin D supplementation taken before the onset of COVID-19 infection and the clinical outcomes are still scarce and this issue remains controversial. This study aimed to assess the relationships between vitamin D (VitD) status and supplementation and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity in older adults (average age of 78 years) hospitalized for COVID-19. We conducted an observational retrospective cohort study with 228 older hospitalized patients during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The outcomes were in-hospital mortality secondary to COVID-19 or critically severe COVID-19. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to test whether pre-hospital VitD supplementation was independently associated with severity. In this study, 46% of patients developed a severe form and the overall in-hospital mortality was 15%. Sixty-six (29%) patients received a VitD supplement during the 3 months preceding the infection onset. Additionally, a VitD supplement was associated with fewer severe COVID-19 forms (OR = 0.426, p = 0.0135) and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions (OR = 0.341, p = 0.0076). As expected, age > 70 years, male gender and BMI ≥ 35 kg/m 2 were independent risk factors for severe forms of COVID-19. No relationship between serum 25(OH)D levels and the severity of the COVID-19 was identified. VitD supplementation taken during the 3 months preceding the infection onset may have a protective effect on the development of severe COVID-19 forms in older adults. Randomized controlled trials and large-scale cohort studies are necessary to strengthen this observation.
Institutional Review Board Statement: The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the ethical committee of the Hospices Civils de Lyon (protocol code 21_5067, the 30 December 2021). Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
Data Availability Statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to ethical considerations, regarding personal information and respecting what was written in the generic information sheet dedicated to COVID-19 research at the Hospices Civils de Lyon (Lyon, France).
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest regarding this manuscript.
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'onset of COVID-19 infection and the clinical outcomes are still scarce and this issue remains '
'controversial. This study aimed to assess the relationships between vitamin D (VitD) status '
'and supplementation and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity in older adults (average '
'age of 78 years) hospitalized for COVID-19. We conducted an observational retrospective '
'cohort study with 228 older hospitalized patients during the first wave of the COVID-19 '
'pandemic. The outcomes were in-hospital mortality secondary to COVID-19 or critically severe '
'COVID-19. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to test whether pre-hospital VitD '
'supplementation was independently associated with severity. In this study, 46% of patients '
'developed a severe form and the overall in-hospital mortality was 15%. Sixty-six (29%) '
'patients received a VitD supplement during the 3 months preceding the infection onset. '
'Additionally, a VitD supplement was associated with fewer severe COVID-19 forms (OR = 0.426, '
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'age > 70 years, male gender and BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 were independent risk factors for severe '
'forms of COVID-19. No relationship between serum 25(OH)D levels and the severity of the '
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'infection onset may have a protective effect on the development of severe COVID-19 forms in '
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