Vitamin D and COVID-19 Severity in Hospitalized Older Patients: Potential Benefit of Prehospital Vitamin D Supplementation

oleh: François Parant, Justin Bouloy, Julie Haesebaert, Lamia Bendim’red, Karine Goldet, Philippe Vanhems, Laetitia Henaff, Thomas Gilbert, Charlotte Cuerq, Emilie Blond, Muriel Bost, Marc Bonnefoy

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2022-04-01

Deskripsi

Studies involving the associations between vitamin D supplementation taken before the onset of COVID-19 infection and the clinical outcomes are still scarce and this issue remains controversial. This study aimed to assess the relationships between vitamin D (VitD) status and supplementation and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity in older adults (average age of 78 years) hospitalized for COVID-19. We conducted an observational retrospective cohort study with 228 older hospitalized patients during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The outcomes were in-hospital mortality secondary to COVID-19 or critically severe COVID-19. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to test whether pre-hospital VitD supplementation was independently associated with severity. In this study, 46% of patients developed a severe form and the overall in-hospital mortality was 15%. Sixty-six (29%) patients received a VitD supplement during the 3 months preceding the infection onset. Additionally, a VitD supplement was associated with fewer severe COVID-19 forms (OR = 0.426, <i>p</i> = 0.0135) and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions (OR = 0.341, <i>p</i> = 0.0076). As expected, age > 70 years, male gender and BMI ≥ 35 kg/m<sup>2</sup> were independent risk factors for severe forms of COVID-19. No relationship between serum 25(OH)D levels and the severity of the COVID-19 was identified. VitD supplementation taken during the 3 months preceding the infection onset may have a protective effect on the development of severe COVID-19 forms in older adults. Randomized controlled trials and large-scale cohort studies are necessary to strengthen this observation.