Multivitamin use not found to be associated with mortality benefit at 20 years follow-up

1. In a cohort of healthy adults, multivitamin use was not associated with lower mortality risk at 20 years follow-up. 

Evidence Rating Level: 2 (Good)

Approximately one-third of adults in the United States (US) use multivitamins (MV) to maintain or improve health and prevent chronic disease. However, the association between MV use and mortality have been mixed. This cohort study evaluated how self-reported daily MV use was associated with mortality risk in generally healthy adults. Data from three prospective cohort studies in the United States, with follow-up periods of over 20 years were analyzed. Analyses were performed for the first 12 years of follow-up (follow-up period 1 (FP1)) and the last 15 years of follow-up (follow-up period 2 (FP2)). Among 390,124 participants without a history of major chronic diseases (median [IQR] age, 61.5 [56.7-66.0] years; 21,6202 [55.4%] male), there was no association between MV use and lower all-cause mortality risk in FP1 (multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) 1.04; 95% CI, 1.02-1.07), nor FP2 (multivariable-adjusted HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.99-1.08). In contrast, daily MV users had a 4% higher mortality risk than nonusers (FP1: HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.02-1.07; FP2: HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.99-1.08). Although this study did not find regular MV use among US adults to improve longevity, the authors did not rule out the possibility that daily MV use may relate to other health outcomes associated with aging. Overall however, study findings suggest that there is no long term mortality benefit associated with multivitamin use. 

Click to read the study in JAMA Network Open

Image: PD

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