Context: Declining muscle strength and performance in older adults are associated with falls, fractures, and premature death.
Objective: To determine whether supplementation with vitamin D3 or omega-3 fatty acids vs. placebo for 2 years improves physical performance measures.
Design: VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL) was a double-blinded, placebo-controlled randomized trial of supplemental vitamin D3 and/or omega-3 fatty acids vs. placebo in the prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease in 25,871 U.S. adults. This ancillary study was completed in a New England sub-cohort that had in-person evaluations at baseline and 2-year follow-up.
Setting: Center for Clinical Investigations in Boston.
Participants: 1,054 participants (men ≥50 and women ≥55 years).
Interventions: 2x2 factorial design of supplemental vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol, 2000 IU/day) and/or marine omega-3 fatty acids (1 g/day).
Main outcome measures: 2-year changes in physical performance measures of grip strength, walking speed, standing balance, repeated chair stands, and Timed-up and Go (TUG).
Results: At 2 years, all randomized groups showed worsening walking speeds and TUG. There were no differences in changes in grip strength, walking speeds, Short Physical Performance Battery (composite of walking speed, balance, and chair stands), and TUG between the vitamin D3-treated and the placebo-treated groups and between the omega-3-treated and the placebo-treated groups. Effects overall did not vary by sex, age, body mass index, or baseline measures of total or free 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) or plasma n-3 index; TUG slightly worsened with vitamin D supplementation, compared to placebo, in participants with baseline total 25(OH)D levels above the median (p=0.01, p for interaction=0.04).
Conclusions: Neither supplemental vitamin D3 nor marine omega-3 fatty acids for 2 years improved physical performance in this generally healthy adult population.
Keywords: omega-3 fatty acids; physical performance; vitamin D.
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Endocrine Society. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.