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Association of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D with the risk of death in a general older population in Finland

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration, a marker of vitamin D status, and risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in a general older population with relatively low average serum 25(OH)D concentrations.

Methods

The study population included 552 men and 584 women aged 53–73 years who were free of CVD and cancer at baseline in 1998–2001 from the prospective, population-based Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor (KIHD) Study. Deaths were ascertained by a computer linkage to the national cause of death register. All deaths that occurred from the study entry to December 31, 2008, were included. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyze the association between serum 25(OH)D and risk of death.

Results

The mean serum 25(OH)D concentration was 43.7 nmol/L (SD 17.8), with a strong seasonal variation. During the average follow-up of 9.1 years, 87 participants died, 35 from cardiovascular disease (CVD). After multivariable-adjustments, the hazard ratios (HR) for all cause death in the tertiles of serum 25(OH)D were 1, 1.68 (95% CI: 0.92, 3.07) and 2.06 (95% CI: 1.12, 3.80), p for trend = 0.02.

Conclusions

Our study supports the accumulating evidence from epidemiological studies that vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased risk of death. Large-scale primary prevention trials with vitamin D supplementation are warranted.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank our staff at the Research Institute of Public Health for helping with subject recruitment and data collection. The research was supported by the Academy of Finland grants #121206 to J.K. Virtanen and #114526 to T. Nurmi. None of the authors have conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Campus, Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, P.O. Box 1627, Kuopio, 70211, Finland

    Jyrki K. Virtanen, Tarja Nurmi, Sari Voutilainen, Jaakko Mursu & Tomi-Pekka Tuomainen

  2. Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Jaakko Mursu

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  1. Jyrki K. Virtanen
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  2. Tarja Nurmi
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Correspondence to Jyrki K. Virtanen.

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Virtanen, J.K., Nurmi, T., Voutilainen, S. et al. Association of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D with the risk of death in a general older population in Finland. Eur J Nutr 50, 305–312 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-010-0138-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-010-0138-3

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