Table 4.

 General characteristics of non-overlapping meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials of vitamin D supplementation for skeletal outcomes

Skeletal outcome	Population	Type of metric (summary effect)	Units	MA model	No of studies in each MA	Reported summary effect (95% CI)	P value
Bone mineral density	Healthy children	SMD	% change	Fixed	5	0.1 (−0.06 to 0.26)	0.22
Bone mineral density	Community dwelling adults	WMD	% change	Random	3	−0.9 (−2.10 to 0.40)	0.16
Bone mineral density in femoral neck	Community dwelling adults	WMD	% change	Random	8	1.10 (0.40 to 1.90)	0.004
Bone mineral density in forearm	Community dwelling adults	WMD	% change	Random	2	−0.70 (1.70 to 0.40)	0.19
Bone mineral density in forearm	Healthy children	SMD	% change	Random	3	0.04 (−0.36 to 0.45)	0.86
Bone mineral density in hip	Healthy children	SMD	% change	Random	4	0.06 (−0.18 to 0.29)	0.63
Bone mineral density in hip	Community dwelling adults	WMD	% change	Random	6	0.70 (−0.10 to 1.60)	0.11
Bone mineral density in lumbar spine	Healthy children	SMD	% change	Fixed	5	0.15 (−0.01 to 0.31)	0.07
Bone mineral density in lumbar spine	Community dwelling adults	WMD	% change	Random	7	0.10 (−0.60 to 0.70)	0.78
Bone pain	CKD RD	RR	NA	Fixed	4	0.29 (0.03 to 2.63)	0.28
Falls	Older adults	OR	NA	Random	10	0.97 (0.84 to 1.11)	0.68
Falls: rate of falls	Older people in care facilities or hospitals	RaR	NA	Random	2	0.55 (0.19 to 1.64)	0.28
Falls: rate of falls	Older people in community	RaR	NA	Random	2	1.14 (1.03 to 1.27)	0.01
Fractures	Men aged >65 years and postmenopausal women	RR	NA	Fixed	10	1.01 (0.93 to 1.09)	0.82
Fractures	CKD RD	RR	NA	Fixed	4	1.00 (0.06 to 15.41)	1.00
Fractures: hip	Men aged >65 years and postmenopausal women	RR	NA	Fixed	9	1.15 (0.99 to 1.33)	0.06
Fractures: non-vertebral	People aged >65 years	RR	NA	No info	5	0.79 (0.63 to 0.99)	0.04
Fractures: non-vertebral, non-hip	Older women	OR	NA	Random	2	0.69 (0.21 to 1.66)	0.49
Fractures: vertebral or deformity	Men aged >65 years and postmenopausal women	RR	NA	Random	5	0.90 (0.42 to 1.92)	0.80
Performance measures: balance sway	Older adults	SMD	NA	Fixed	3	−0.20 (−0.39 to −0.01)	0.04
Performance measures: lower extremity strength	Older adults	SMD	NA	Fixed	3	0.05 (−0.11 to 0.20)	0.54
Performance measures: muscle strength	Older adults	SMD	NA	Fixed	3	−0.19 (−0.35 to −0.02)	0.02

CKD RD=chronic kidney disease requiring dialysis; OR=odds ratio; RaR=rate ratio; RR=relative risk; SMD=standardised mean difference; WMD=weighted mean difference.

P values were estimated using formulas presented in Altman and Bland 2011.¹⁴⁰