New research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical suggests that vitamin D supplements could reduce falls in homebound older adults.

Previous studies have shown that vitamin D plays a key role in maintaining muscle integrity and strength and some studies suggest vitamin D may reduce the risk of falls.

Every year falls affect approximately one in three older adults living at home, with approximately one in 10 falls resulting in serious injury.

"Falls in homebound older people often lead to disability and placement in a nursing home," Denise Houston, lead author of the study and an associate professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest Baptist, said in a statement. "One or our aging center's goals is to help people maintain their independence and live safely at home for as long as possible."

For the study, researchers collected and analyzed data from 68 people who received either a monthly vitamin D supplement of 100,000 international units or placebo delivered with their Meals-on-Wheels meal.

The study included the participants' history of falls and their fear of falling, blood tests at the beginning and at end of the trial to measure 25-hydroxyvitamin D (biomarker for vitamin D in blood), and a monthly diary recording falls during the trial period. At the beginning of this pilot study, the research team found that more than half of the participants had insufficient concentrations of vitamin D in the blood, while less than a quarter had concentrations in the optimal range.

They found that the monthly vitamin D supplement was effective in increasing the concentrations of vitamin D in the blood from insufficient to sufficient levels in all but one of the 34 people who received it, and to optimal levels in all but five people. In addition, people in the vitamin D group reported approximately half the falls of those in the control group.

"Although these initial findings are encouraging, we need to confirm the results in a larger trial," Houston said.

The findings are detailed in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.