Vitamin D intake and cardiovascular mortality in the NHANES I epidemiological follow-up study cohort

The objective of the present study was to determine whether vitamin D intake is associated with CVD mortality in a general population sample. The association between vitamin D intake and CVD mortality (ICD-9 code 410-414) rates was investigated using data from the the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) Epidemiological Follow-up Study (NHEFS) 1971-1992. Overall, higher vitamin D intake was associated with lower CVD mortality. After adjustment for traditional risk factors for CVD, vitamin D intake showed mild but nonstatistically significant protective effects against CVD mortality with a hazard ratio for adequate as compared to low intake (with 95% confidence intervals) of 0.90 (0.74, 1.08). Hazard ratios were 0.95, 0.83, 0.88, and 1.02, in males, females, Whites, and Blacks, respectively (with 95% confidence intervals overlapping 1.0 in all cases). Thus, we did not find a statistically significant association between vitamin D intake and CVD mortality, although our findings are compatible with a mild protective effect, especially among females and Whites.