Is vitamin D supplementation associated with lower mortality in adults?
Vitamin D3, a systematic review and meta-analysis in 75,454 participants (BMJ 2019, PMID 31405892) — however, vitamin D supplementation was found to reduce the risk of cancer death by 16%. Vitamin D supplementation did not reduce overall mortality but was associated with a 16% reduction in cancer-related deaths.
Source: BMJ 2019, PMID 31405892 ↗ · Research map · How Magellan grades evidence · evidence confidence: high
BMJ · 2019 · PMID 31405892 · DOI 10.1136/bmj.l4673
Vitamin D supplementation did not reduce overall mortality but was associated with a 16% reduction in cancer-related deaths.
The question
Is vitamin D supplementation associated with lower mortality in adults?
What they tested
The study aimed to investigate if vitamin D supplementation is associated with lower mortality.
How they did it
This systematic review and meta-analysis included 52 randomized controlled trials with 75,454 participants. The trials compared vitamin D supplementation to placebo or no treatment for mortality outcomes. Data extraction and quality assessment were conducted independently, and meta-analyses used fixed and random effects models to calculate risk ratios for death.
What they found
Vitamin D supplementation was not associated with all-cause mortality (risk ratio 0.98), cardiovascular mortality (0.98), or non-cancer, non-cardiovascular mortality (1.05). However, vitamin D supplementation significantly reduced the risk of cancer death (0.84). Subgroup analyses showed all-cause mortality was significantly lower in trials with vitamin D supplementation, but neither vitamin D nor vitamin D alone significantly reduced all-cause mortality.
| All-cause mortality | 0.98 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiovascular mortality | 0.98 | |
| Non-cancer, non-cardiovascular mortality | 1.05 | |
| Cancer death | 0.84 |
Risk ratios for different mortality outcomes with vitamin D supplementation compared to control.
What it means
Vitamin D supplementation alone was not associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality in adults. However, vitamin D supplementation was found to reduce the risk of cancer death by 16%.
Limitations
The abstract does not explicitly state limitations of the study beyond the need for additional large clinical studies.
Where the published abstract does not list limitations, we say so rather than inventing them. Read the full paper on PubMed before drawing conclusions.
The paper at a glance
| Title | Association between vitamin D supplementation and mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis |
|---|---|
| Journal | BMJ |
| Year | 2019 |
| PMID | 31405892 ↗ |
| DOI | 10.1136/bmj.l4673 ↗ |
| Topic | Cardiovascular & vascular aging |
Read the source: PubMed record (authors, abstract, full citation) ↗ · Publisher via doi.org ↗
Where Magellan uses this paper
This citation sits behind the evidence grade on the pages below. Grades are set from the research and are independent of affiliate commissions.
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Molecules & mechanisms in this paper
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Cite this page
These citations point at this summary. To cite the original paper with its full author list, use the PubMed record or doi.org.
Magellan Longevity. (2026). Is vitamin D supplementation associated with lower mortality in adults? [Plain-English summary of BMJ 2019, PMID 31405892, DOI 10.1136/bmj.l4673]. Magellan Longevity. https://magellanlongevity.com/study/vitd_mortality.html@misc{magellan_vitd_mortality,
title = {Is vitamin D supplementation associated with lower mortality in adults?},
author = {{Magellan Longevity}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://magellanlongevity.com/study/vitd_mortality.html}},
note = {Plain-English summary of PubMed PMID 31405892; DOI 10.1136/bmj.l4673; BMJ 2019. Reviewed by Gabriel Radu, DO},
urldate = {2026-08-11}
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