Higher dietary vitamin D intake is associated with better survival among older women: Results from the French EPIDOS cohort

Jennifer Gautier; Jérémie Riou; Anne-Marie Schott; Hubert Blain; Yves Rolland; Patrick Saulnier; Cédric Annweiler

doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.974909

Higher dietary vitamin D intake is associated with better survival among older women: Results from the French EPIDOS cohort

Front Nutr. 2022 Sep 8:9:974909. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.974909. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Jennifer Gautier¹, Jérémie Riou^{2

3}, Anne-Marie Schott⁴, Hubert Blain⁵, Yves Rolland⁶, Patrick Saulnier^{2

3}, Cédric Annweiler^{1

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geriatric Medicine, Angers University Hospital, Angers University Memory Clinic, Research Center on Autonomy and Longevity, Angers, France.
² MINT, INSERM 1066, CNRS 6021, University of Angers, Bretagne Loire University, Angers, France.
³ Delegation to Clinical Research and Innovation, Angers University Hospital, Angers, France.
⁴ Department IMER, Lyon University Hospital, EA 4129, RECIF, University of Lyon, INSERM U831, Lyon, France.
⁵ Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Montpellier University Hospital, University of Montpellier 1, Montpellier, France.
⁶ Department of Geriatrics, Toulouse University Hospital, INSERM U1027, University of Toulouse III, Toulouse, France.
⁷ UPRES EA 4638, University of Angers, UNAM, Angers, France.
⁸ Department of Medical Biophysics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Robarts Research Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.

Abstract

Background: Hypovitaminosis D, a condition highly common among older adults, is associated with 35-percent increased all-cause mortality. In contrast, vitamin D supplementation prevents all-cause mortality. The possible role of the dietary intake of vitamin D on mortality remains yet unknown.

Objectives: The objective of this prospective study was to determine all-cause mortality risk according to baseline dietary vitamin D intake among older adults while accounting for potential confounders including dietary calcium intake.

Methods: Vitamin D and calcium dietary intakes were estimated at baseline from a self-administered food frequency questionnaire among 3,066 community-dwelling older women aged ≥75 years, recruited in the French EPIDOS cohort between 1992 and 1994, and for whom information about vital status was available in 2010. Dietary vitamin D and calcium intakes were defined as low if <400 IU/day or <1,200 mg/day, respectively.

Results: The mean ± SD age of the whole cohort was 80.1 ± 3.6 years at baseline. The median survival time from baseline for participants with low dietary vitamin D intake was 11.5 years [95% confidence interval (CI): 11.0-11.9] vs. 12.2 years (95% CI: 11.7-12.9) for those consuming more than 400 IU/day (p = 0.003). Among those with calcium dietary intake <1,200 mg/day, a vitamin D consumption of 400 IU/day and over had a significant positive effect on all-cause mortality (RR: 0.86, p < 0.05). However, no association was retrieved between dietary vitamin D intake and all-cause mortality among participants with dietary calcium intake ≥1,200 mg/day.

Conclusion: Higher dietary vitamin D intake was associated with better survival in the study cohort, specifically among those consuming <1,200 mg/day of dietary calcium.

Keywords: aged 75 and over; cohort studies; eating; mortality; vitamin D.