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Systematic review

Review of 151 studies: vitamin D gave mixed results, with possible benefit in children

Shah and colleagues · The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2024

Original title: A Systematic Review Supporting the Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guidelines on Vitamin D.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

Mixed

In children and adolescents, low-certainty evidence suggested fewer respiratory infections with vitamin D. There was no significant effect on select outcomes in healthy adults aged 19 to 74 years.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Systematic review
Who or what was studied
151 studies · Children, healthy adults, older adults, pregnant women and adults with prediabetes
What was tested
Vitamin D vs no vitamin D for preventing disease, across 14 questions
What it measured
Several kinds of outcomes
Who has a stake
No disclosure in PubMed
No disclosure in PubMed.
Journal
The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 2024
Source
PubMed record 38828942. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • •Sums up 151 studies found with a set search method, without pooling the numbers.
  • •Measured several kinds of outcomes.
  • •The PubMed record has no conflict-of-interest statement.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

This paper is not on the ladder. It is a systematic review, and reviews and opinion pieces discuss studies that are already counted on the steps below.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: colds, flu and chest infections

    10

    2 benefit, 8 no difference

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    5

    1 benefit, 1 mixed, 2 no difference, 1 harm

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    1

    1 no difference

  4. Population studies

    1

    1 no difference

  5. Blood levels and genes

    4

    3 benefit, 1 no difference

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does vitamin D prevent colds and infections?”

Not clearly; any effect looks small.

Confidence: low. Based on 33 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Other reviews on this question

See all 33 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The two reads agreed on every checked field. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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