Prevalence of vitamin D supplement use in Australian residential aged care facilities in November 2014.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to establish the prevalence and predictors of adequate vitamin D supplement use, as per current falls prevention guidelines in Australian aged care homes. De-identified medication chart data from November 2014 were collected from pharmacists. The proportion of residents prescribed vitamin D and associations between adequate vitamin D supplementation and state, calcium use and osteoporosis medication use were assessed.

RESULTS

The prevalence of adequate vitamin D supplement use (≥800 IU) was 47.1% of residents (95% CI 41.4, 52.8%). There was no significant difference between states (p = 0.3), however there was large variation between individual facilities (15.9-85.0%). Residents were more likely to be prescribed an adequate dose of vitamin D if they were prescribed a calcium supplement (p = 0.0001) or an osteoporosis medication (p = 0.03).