Effects of Vitamin D and Zinc Supplementation in Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19 among Older Adults: A Rapid Review

Background. COVID-19 has robustly been associated with an elevated likelihood of severe disease progression and mortality among older adults. Although supplementation has the potential to serve as adjunctive therapy for COVID-19 prevention and treatment, the existing evidence in this regard remains...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of clinical practice (Esher) 2023-05, Vol.2023
Main Authors: Christopher, Christina Malini, Arrumugam, Annaletchumi, Shrestha, Sunil, Ahmed, Ali, Thapa, Parbati, KC, Bhuvan, Blebil, Ali Qais
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Background. COVID-19 has robustly been associated with an elevated likelihood of severe disease progression and mortality among older adults. Although supplementation has the potential to serve as adjunctive therapy for COVID-19 prevention and treatment, the existing evidence in this regard remains limited. This review aims to search the evidence of vitamin D and zinc supplementation use in older adults to treat and prevent COVID-19 infection and its impact on health outcomes. Method. Articles focused on vitamin D or zinc supplementation doses or serum levels were identified from five primary databases, Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, CENTRAL, and Scopus, from January 2019 to March 2022. Data were extracted and summarised. Risk of bias was conducted for both randomised and nonrandomised studies. Results. After screening 977 articles initially, only five articles were obtained, consisting of one randomised controlled trial study, two quasi-experimental studies, and two cohort studies. The included studies had a total of 606 older adults. The current review highlighted the outcomes of vitamin D and zinc minerals among older adults during COVID-19. The quality of included studies was one with some concern, two with moderate risk of bias, and another two with a serious risk of bias. Two studies found higher vitamin D intake lowered mortality rates, one study showed improvement in COVID-19 severity, and another study linked lower serum zinc levels to higher mortality rates and disease severity, while one study found no association. Conclusion. The present review has shown the supplemental use of vitamin D and zinc as an adjunctive intervention among older adults, with a heterogeneous assessment of COVID-19-related mortality and disease severity outcomes. Vitamin D and zinc supplementation may exert a protective effect on COVID-19 outcomes. Consequently, there is a pressing need for more comprehensive and rigorous trials to confirm these findings.
ISSN:1368-5031
1742-1241
DOI:10.1155/2023/1873149