Authors
Jiaming Zheng, Qingqing Yang, Lin Dou, Baoqi Zeng
Published in
The aging male : the official journal of the International Society for the Study of the Aging Male. Volume 29. Issue 1. Pages 2749894. Dec 31, 2026. Epub Oct 16, 2026.
Abstract
Although frailty is common in older adults, the relationship between vitamin D and frailty remains unclear. Using NHANES data, this study examined the association between frailty and serum vitamin D in middle-aged and older adults.
Eight thousand and sixty-four participants aged 40 and older from NHANES (2007-2018) underwent cross-sectional analysis. Serum vitamin D was categorized as deficiency (<25 nmol/L), insufficiency (25-50 nmol/L), or adequate (≥50 nmol/L). Frailty was quantified using a 49-item Frailty Index (FI) based on the cumulative deficit model; frailty was defined as FI ≥ 0.21. Logistic regression and restricted cubic splines were used.
The deficiency group had the highest frailty prevalence (55.9%), followed by insufficiency (42.9%) and adequate (37.2%). Frailty was significantly associated with deficiency (OR 2.15, 95% CI 1.42-3.25) after full adjustment, whereas insufficiency was not significantly associated with frailty (OR 1.15, 95% CI 0.95-1.38). Serum vitamin D and FI showed a U-shaped dose-response relationship, robust across subgroup and sensitivity analyses.
In middle-aged and older adults, vitamin D deficiency, but not insufficiency, is associated with higher frailty risk. Serum vitamin D may have a U-shaped association with FI. Monitoring vitamin D levels may help inform frailty management in aging populations.
PMID:
42886648
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 17 Oct 2026.
Read full publication at:
Please sign in
to see all details.
Advertisement
Stats
- Recommendations n/a n/a positive of 0 vote(s)
- Views 5
- Comments 0