Low plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are not associated with a high risk of recurrent falls in community-dwelling Japanese adults: the Murakami cohort study

Reports on the association between vitamin D levels and fall risk have been mixed, and long-term follow-up studies are lacking. This 5-year cohort study of 5,343 community-dwelling Japanese people aged 40–74 years found that low vitamin D levels are not associated with a high risk of recurrent falls.

Findings of cohort studies on the association between plasma 25-hydoxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels and fall risk have been mixed, and long-term follow-up studies are lacking. The present study investigated whether low plasma 25(OH)D levels are longitudinally associated with a high risk of recurrent falls in adults.

This 5-year cohort study included 5,343 community-dwelling Japanese people aged 40–74 years. Baseline blood collection and a questionnaire survey were conducted in 2011–2013. Plasma 25(OH)D levels were determined and divided into quintiles after stratification by season, sex, and age group. Information on recurrent falls occurring in the year before the survey 5 years later was obtained, and participants with two or more falls were considered to have experienced recurrent falls. Covariates were sex, age, marital status, education, occupation, BMI, total physical activity levels, calcium intake, vitamin K intake, smoking, drinking, and disease history.

Mean age and 25(OH)D levels were 60.9 years and 50.9 nmol/L, respectively. In the follow-up survey, 209 recurrent falls were reported. Plasma 25(OH)D levels were not significantly associated with the occurrence of recurrent falls in men, women, or men/women-combined (adjusted P for trend = 0.1198, 0.8383, and 0.2355, respectively). In men and men/women-combined, adjusted ORs for recurrent falls in the lowest quintile were significantly lower (adjusted OR = 0.42 and 0.59, respectively) than the middle quintile (reference).

Low plasma 25(OH)D levels are not associated with a high risk of recurrent falls in middle-aged and older people. Further longitudinal studies will be needed to confirm our findings in other populations.