Dietary vitamin A, C, and E intake and subsequent fracture risk at various sites: A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to provide reliable estimates for dietary antioxidant vitamin (vitamins A, C, and E) intake and their effect on fracture risk at various sites.

METHODS

The PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were searched to identify prospective cohort studies published throughout October 2019. The pooled relative risk (RR) with its 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated using a random-effects model.

RESULTS

In total, 13 prospective cohort studies involving 384,464 individuals were selected for this meta-analysis. The summary RR indicated that increased antioxidant vitamin intake was associated with a reduced fracture risk (RR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.86-0.98; P = .015). When stratified by the vitamin types, increased vitamin E intake was found to be associated with a reduced fracture risk (RR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.46-0.95; P = .025), whereas increased vitamin A and C intake did not affect this risk. Increased antioxidant vitamin intake was associated with a reduced fracture risk, irrespective of fracture sites (HR: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.86-0.94; P < .001); however, it did not affect hip fracture risk. Furthermore, increased antioxidant vitamin intake was associated with a reduced fracture risk in men (RR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.68-0.96; P = .017) and combined men and women (RR: 0.83; 95%CI: 0.73-0.93; P = .002); however, it did not affect fracture risk in women.

CONCLUSION

Fracture risk at any site is significantly reduced with increased antioxidant vitamin intake, especially vitamin E intake and in men.