To the Editor: Although treatment with vitamin D has been shown to reduce hip fracture risk in elderly institutionalised people,1 there has been a perception that vitamin D deficiency is generally uncommon in countries with high sunlight exposure such as Australia.
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- 1. Chapuy MC, Arlot ME, Duboeuf F, et al. Vitamin D3 and calcium to prevent hip fractures in elderly women. New Engl J Med 1992; 327: 1637-1642.
- 2. Du X, Greenfield H, David DR, et al. Vitamin D deficiency and associated factors in adolescent girls in Beijing. Am J Clin Nutr 2001; 74: 494-500.
- 3. Stein M, Wark JD, Scherer SC, et al. Falls relate to vitamin D and parathyroid hormone in an Australian nursing home and hostel. J Am Ger Soc 1999; 47: 1195-1201.
- 4. Inderjeeth CA, Niklason F, Al-Lahham Y, et al. Vitamin D deficiency and secondary hyperparathyroidism: clinical and biochemical associations in older non-institutionalised southern Tasmanians. Aust N Z J Med 2000; 30: 209-214.
- 5. Pasco JA, Henry MJ, Nicholson GC, et al. Vitamin D status of women in the Geelong Osteoporosis Study: association with diet and casual exposure to sunlight. Med J Aust 2001; 175: 401-405.
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This study was funded by a grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council.