title: Severe vitamin D deficiency in Swiss hip fracture patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Most clinical guidelines for the prevention of hip fractures recommend 800 IU vitamin D per day. This dose shifted serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (25(OH)D) in previous studies to between 60 and 100 nmol/l.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To measure 25(OH)D levels and prevalence of vitamin D supplementation in individuals age 65+ with acute hip fracture.
  
  
  METHODS
  222 consecutive hip fracture patients were investigated over a 12 month period. Mean age of patients was 86 years and 77% were women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean serum 25(OH)D levels were low among hip fracture patients admitted from home (34.6 nmol/l), from assisted living (27.7 nmol/l), and from nursing homes (24 nmol/l). Severe vitamin D deficiency below 30 nmol/l was present in 60%, 80% were below 50 nmol/l, and less than 4% reached desirable levels of at least 75 nmol/l. Consistently, only 10% of hip fracture patients had any vitamin D supplementation on admission to acute care with significantly higher 25(OH)D levels among individuals supplemented with 800-880 IU/day (63.5 nmol/l). Controlling for age and gender, vitamin D supplementation, type of dwelling, and season were independently and significantly associated with 25(OH)D levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data provide evidence that current guidelines for the prevention of hip fractures need further effort to be translated into clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland. Heike.Bischoff@usz.ch
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Bischoff-Ferrari
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Can
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Staehelin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Platz
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Henschkowski
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Michel
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dawson-Hughes
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Theiler
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012621:Seasons; D013472:Sunlight; D013557:Switzerland; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D