There is high quality evidence that vitamin D plus calcium is associated with a statistically significant reduction in incidence of new non-vertebral fractures .
Vitamin D alone is unlikely to prevent fractures in the doses and formulations tested so far in older people .
Supplements of vitamin D and calcium may prevent hip or any type of fracture .
There was a small but significant increase in gastrointestinal symptoms and renal disease associated with vitamin D and calcium .
This review found that there was no increased risk of death from taking calcium and vitamin
BACKGROUND Vitamin D and related compounds have been used to prevent  osteoporotic fractures in older people .
This is the third up date of a Cochrane review first published in 1996 .
OBJECTIVES To determine the effects of vitamin D or related compounds , with or without calcium , for preventing  fractures in post-menopausal women and older men .
Functional improvement with vitamin D replenishment in a cohort of frail, vitamin D-deficient older people.
OBJECTIVE To evaluate functional improvement in a population of frail , homebound older persons with low vitamin D status as vitamin D stores improve . DESIGN R and omized , controlled intervention study . SETTING Subjects ' homes and a nursing facility in Baltimore , Maryl and . PARTICIPANTS The first 32 subjects ( community-dwelling , homebound older subjects from the Johns Hopkins Elder Housecall Program and nursing home residents from the Johns Hopkins Geriatrics Center ) entered in a longitudinal study of vitamin D replacement . MEASUREMENTS Baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were measured and repeated at least 1 month after therapy with either placebo or vitamin D ( ergocalciferol ) . Subjects were also administered the Frail Elderly Functional Assessment ( FEFA ) question naire , an instrument demonstrated to be reliable , valid , and sensitive to small increments of functional change in this population . MAIN RESULTS All subjects started with 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels less than 15 ng/mL. Those subjects whose levels improved by at least 3 ng/mL ( > assay coefficient of variation ) also demonstrated improvement in FEFA score . Regression analysis between change in FEFA score compared with change in 25-hydroxyvitamin D was significant ( r = .4 ; P = .02 ) . CONCLUSIONS In this cohort of homebound older people , improvement in vitamin D status was associated with functional improvement as measured by the FEFA question naire
There is high quality evidence that vitamin D plus calcium is associated with a statistically significant reduction in incidence of new non-vertebral fractures .
Vitamin D alone is unlikely to prevent fractures in the doses and formulations tested so far in older people .
Supplements of vitamin D and calcium may prevent hip or any type of fracture .
There was a small but significant increase in gastrointestinal symptoms and renal disease associated with vitamin D and calcium .
This review found that there was no increased risk of death from taking calcium and vitamin
BACKGROUND Vitamin D and related compounds have been used to prevent  osteoporotic fractures in older people .
This is the third up date of a Cochrane review first published in 1996 .
OBJECTIVES To determine the effects of vitamin D or related compounds , with or without calcium , for preventing  fractures in post-menopausal women and older men .