Improving vitamin D levels
Researchers from the Royal Adelaide Hospital may have found a cheap, safe and effective way to prevent Australians in residential aged care from becoming vitamin D deficient. During a six-month controlled trial, a group of aged care residents given a high-dose vitamin D supplement once every three months, mixed in with water, juice or milk, had reached recommended levels whereas before the test, 95% of residents had blood levels of vitamin D below the desirable range.
The results are published in the latest edition of the Medical Journal of Australia.
Co-author of the study, Professor Leslie Cleland, Clinical Professor at the Department of Medicine, University of Adelaide, says high rates of vitamin D deficiency among aged care residents are well documented. Lack of exposure to sunlight and the usual shortcomings of diet as the sole source of vitamin D are likely contributing factors.
Prof Cleland suggests a policy-based approach, subject to medical consent, replacing individual supplementation with a supplement given to all residents every three months – a cheap and quick method of improving residents’ vitamin D status.
The supplement – bought in bulk and prepared by the Royal Adelaide Hospital – cost just $4 per resident per year. The cost of the nearest equivalent retail product is about $50 per annum.
“[The supplement] is inexpensive enough for aged care facilities to be willing to meet the cost, making the program potentially cost-neutral for health service authorities,” says Prof Cleland.
In addition, nurses were able to accommodate the quarterly dosing readily into their normal work patterns.
