Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of population level implementation of a test-and-treat approach to correction of suboptimal vitamin D status (25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) <75 nmol/L) on risk of all cause acute respiratory tract infection and covid 19.

DESIGN: Phase 3 open label randomised controlled trial.

SETTING: United Kingdom.

PARTICIPANTS: 6200 people aged ≥16 years who were not taking vitamin D supplements at baseline.

INTERVENTIONS: Offer of a postal finger prick test of blood 25(OH)D concentration with provision of a six month supply of lower dose vitamin D (800 IU/day, n=1550) or higher dose vitamin D (3200 IU/day, n=1550) to those with blood 25(OH)D concentration <75 nmol/L, compared with no offer of testing or supplementation (n=3100). Follow-up was for six months.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was the proportion of participants with at least one swab test or doctor confirmed acute respiratory tract infection of any cause. A secondary outcome was the proportion of participants with swab test confirmed covid-19. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios and associated 95% confidence intervals. The primary analysis was conducted by intention to treat.

RESULTS: Of 3100 participants offered a vitamin D test, 2958 (95.4%) accepted and 2674 (86.3%) had 25(OH)D concentrations <75 nmol/L and received vitamin D supplements (n=1328 lower dose, n=1346 higher dose). Compared with 136/2949 (4.6%) participants in the no offer group, at least one acute respiratory tract infection of any cause occurred in 87/1515 (5.7%) in the lower dose group (odds ratio 1.26, 95% confidence interval 0.96 to 1.66) and 76/1515 (5.0%) in the higher dose group (1.09, 0.82 to 1.46). Compared with 78/2949 (2.6%) participants in the no offer group, 55/1515 (3.6%) developed covid-19 in the lower dose group (1.39, 0.98 to 1.97) and 45/1515 (3.0%) in the higher dose group (1.13, 0.78 to 1.63).

CONCLUSIONS: Among people aged 16 years and older with a high baseline prevalence of suboptimal vitamin D status, implementation of a population level test-and-treat approach to vitamin D supplementation was not associated with a reduction in risk of all cause acute respiratory tract infection or covid-19.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04579640.

Rights

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Cite as

Jolliffe, D., Holt, H., Greenig, M., Talaei, M., Perdek, N., Pfeffer, P., Vivaldi, G., Maltby, S., Symons, J., Barlow, N., Normandale, A., Garcha, R., Richter, A., Faustini, S., Orton, C., Ford, D., Lyons, R., Davies, G., Kee, F., Griffiths, C., Norrie, J., Sheikh, A., Shaheen, S., Relton, C. & Martineau, A. 2022, 'Effect of a test-and-treat approach to vitamin D supplementation on risk of all cause acute respiratory tract infection and covid-19: phase 3 randomised controlled trial (CORONAVIT)', The BMJ, 378(8351), article no: e071230. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2022-071230

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Last updated: 02 November 2023
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