What is the impact of vitamin D supplementation on the survival rate of COVID-19 in adult patients?

Abstract

Reports suggest that administering vitamin D supplements in low doses typically between 10μg and 25μg per day can provide effective protection against respiratory infections. ACE 2 receptor proteins tend to bind with corona viruses in the infection process and, more importantly, vitamin D can disrupt the ACE 2 receptor protein’s path. This means that vitamin D supplementation can have consequences on survival rates in COVID-19 patients.\Methodology: A systematic review was conducted using a narrative synthesis approach to examine studies related to the research question. Data sources for this review included BMJ journals, CINAHL Plus with full text, the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Medline, and Research Gate. The review process followed the PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) and PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines to ensure a structured and transparent approach. After screening 980 studies, only seven met the full inclusion criteria. Data extraction was carried out using Microsoft Excel 2019, and the analysis of the selected studies was performed using a narrative synthesis approach, which allowed for the organization and summarization of key findings without statistical pooling. This approach helped to identify trends and insights from the data while highlighting the context and limitations of the studies. Results: The seven studies included in this research accounted for a total of 663 COVID-19 patients. All studies assessed the primary outcome ‘survival rate’ among its participants reported rates as high as 100% to as low as 81.25%. Three studies assessed clinical outcomes in reference to the World Health Organization’s Ordinal Scale for Clinical Improvement (OSCI) score for COVID-19 and all reported significant decreases in the score following vitamin D supplementation. There were also significantly lower rates of admission to the ICU. Conclusion: The findings of this review suggest that clinicians should consider vitamin D supplementation for adult COVID-19 patients admitted to their facilities.