Review the Research
Get summaries of key research on vitamin D and COVID-19
Does vitamin D supplementation reduce COVID-19 severity? – a systematic review
Take Home Message
This systematic review reports that vitamin D supplementation is effective in reducing COVID19 severity
Results
- Three Meta-analysis of seven systematic reviews showed strong evidence that vitamin D supplementation reduces the risk of mortality in COVID patients. It was also observed that supplementation reduces the need for intensive care and mechanical ventilation requirement. The findings were said to be robust and reliable because the level of heterogeneity was considerably low. Qualitative analysis showed that supplements (oral and IV) are well tolerated, safe and effective in COVID patients.
Who
10 reviews were included.
Things to Keep in Mind
- All systematic reviews are limited by their inclusion and exclusion criteria therefore studies could have been left out
- Only 10 of many published reviews were included and those 1 only included from 3 to 13 studies
Author’s Conclusions
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The findings of this study show that vitamin D supplementation is effective in reducing the COVID-19 severity. Hence, vitamin D should be recommended as an adjuvant therapy for COVID-19. However, more robust and larger trials are required to substantiate it further.
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Study Design
- This systematic review assessed the literature to study the effect of vitamin D supplementation on morbidity and mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Systematic reviews and meta-analysis published from December 2019 to January 2022 presenting the impact of vitamin D supplementation on COVID-19 severity were screened and selected from PubMed and Google scholar.
Research Summaries
Low Vitamin D Levels are Associated with Long COVID Syndrome in COVID-19 Survivors
Low Vitamin D Levels are Associated with Long COVID Syndrome in COVID-19 Survivors Take Home Message This study, conducted in Italy, found that patients with long COVID symptoms, and in particular
Association Between Vitamin D Supplementation and COVID-19 Infection and Mortality
Association Between Vitamin D Supplementation and COVID-19 Infection and Mortality Take Home Message Among VA (Veterans Administration) patients, vitamin D3 and vitamin D2 supplementation reduced the associated risk of COVID-19 infection
Vitamin D Status and Severity of COVID-19
Vitamin D Status and Severity of COVID-19 Take Home Message In this Danish observational study of 447 COVID-19 patients, deficient vitamin D levels were associated with an elevated risk of progressing