Aim
The study aim was to assess the association of vitamin D supplementation before hospital admission and severe outcomes in subjects admitted for COVID-19.
Conclusion
We did not find an association between vitamin D supplementation before hospital admission and death and/or IMV in subjects admitted for COVID-19. The age and the burden of age-associated comorbidities were independently associated with the in-hospital events.
Methods
We performed a cross-sectional analysis of pseudonymised medical record data from subjects admitted to the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Barcelona, Spain) for COVID-19 during March and April 2020. The composite primary study outcome was defined as death and/or invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). Association between risk factors and study outcomes was evaluated by bivariate analysis, followed by logistic regression analysis.
Results
In total, 1,267 persons were hospitalised during the observation period. Overall, 14.9% of the subjects were on active vitamin D supplementation treatment before admission. The subjects in the vitamin D group were significantly older than subjects without vitamin D supplementation. We observed higher rates of the primary outcome (death and/or IMV) among the persons with previous use of vitamin D (30.1 vs. 22.9% in those not receiving treatment). In the bivariate analysis, previous use of vitamin D was positively associated with death and/or IMV [odds ratio (OR): 1.45 95% CI: 1.03; 2.04]; however, after adjustment for other risk factors this association disappeared (OR: 1.09 95%CI: 0.65; 1.81).