Multivitamin and multimineral supplements did not reduce reported infection days or related use of healthcare services in elderly people
Q Does supplementation with multivitamins and multiminerals reduce days of infection and related use of healthcare services and improve quality of life (QOL) in elderly people living in the community?
METHODS
Design:
randomised placebo controlled trial.
Allocation:
concealed.
Blinding:
blinded (patients, healthcare providers, data collectors, outcome assessors, and data analysts).
Follow up period:
1 year.
Setting:
6 general practices in Grampian, UK.
Participants:
910 people ⩾65 years of age (53% men), who were registered with one of the general practices. Exclusion criteria were use of vitamin, mineral, or fish oil supplements in the previous 3 months (or previous month for water soluble vitamins); or vitamin B12 injection in the previous 3 months.
Intervention:
1 daily tablet of a multivitamin and multimineral supplement (n = 456) or matching sorbitol placebo (n = 454) for 1 year. The supplement contained vitamin A, 800 μg; vitamin C, 60 mg; vitamin D3, 5 μg; vitamin E, 10 mg; thiamin, 1.4 mg; riboflavin, 1.6 mg; niacin, 18 …
