Do vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acid and simple home strength exercise program prevents fall in elderly?

Switzerland: The findings of a new study shows that supplemental omega-3 fatty acids may have a slight impact on the incidence of total falls among generally healthy, active, and vitamin D-replete older persons, but daily high-dose vitamin D or a simple home exercise programme (SHEP) showed no benefit.

The effect of vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, and home exercise on fall prevention in otherwise healthy and active older people remains unknown. As a result, Heike A Bischoff-Ferrari and colleagues conducted this study with the goal of testing the effect of daily supplemental vitamin D, marine omega-3 s fatty acids, and a simple home exercise programme (SHEP), alone or in combination, on the incidence of total and injurious falls in otherwise healthy older adults. The data of this research was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

For this study, researchers conducted a randomized-controlled trial with a two-by-two factorial design among 2157 community-dwelling adults aged 70 and older who had no major health events in the five years prior to enrolment and were recruited from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, and Portugal between December 2012 and November 2014. Over a three-year period, participants were randomly randomized to receive 2000 international units/day of vitamin D3 and/or 1 g/day of marine omega-3 s, as well as a SHEP vs placebo and/or control exercise. The incidence rate of total falls was the primary goal for the current fall analysis. Throughout the experiment, falls were documented prospectively. Because there were no interactions between treatments, the main effects are reported using a modified intent-to-treat analysis.

The results of this study stated as follow:

1. The trial was completed by 1900 (88%) of the 2157 randomized participants.

2. The average age was 74.9 years, 61.7% were women, 40.7% had blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations of 20 ng/ml, and 83% were physically active at least moderately.

3. Over a median follow-up of 2.99 years, 3333 falls were documented. Overall, vitamin D and SHEP had no effect on total falls, however omega-3s decreased total falls by 10% when compared to no omega-3s.

In conclusion, given the paucity of data for fall prevention measures other than exercise among generally healthy and active older persons, these findings may be applicable to this group, especially since the DO-HEALTH study with older adults at the peak physical activity level.

Reference:

Bischoff-Ferrari HA, Freystätter G, Vellas B, Dawson-Hughes B, Kressig RW, Kanis JA, Willett WC, Manson JE, Rizzoli R, Theiler R, Hofbauer LC, Armbrecht G, da Silva JAP, Blauth M, de Godoi Rezende Costa Molino C; DO-HEALTH Research Group. Effects of vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids and a simple home strength exercise program on fall prevention: the DO-HEALTH randomized clinical trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2022 Feb 7:nqac022. doi:10.1093/ajcn/nqac022. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35136915.