Association of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D with the risk of death in a general older population in Finland.
OBJECTIVE
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.
University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Campus, Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, Finland. jyrki.virtanen@uef.fi
Jyrki K
JK
Virtanen
Tarja
T
Nurmi
Sari
S
Voutilainen
Jaakko
J
Mursu
Tomi-Pekka
TP
Tuomainen
D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*
D015415:Biomarkers; D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D