Whey protein and vitamin D supplementation in institutionalized older adults: A randomized trial

Abstract

Background: The increase in life expectancy and in the number of individuals over 60 years old brings new demands to health professionals and services based on the physiological changes that occur in this population. The aging process results in changes in body composition, increasing body fat and reducing muscle mass, in addition to a reduction in bone mass. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of whey protein and vitamin D supplementation on body composition and skeletal muscle in older adults living in long-term care facilities. Methods: This study is a double-blind randomized controlled trial. Thirty older adults (>60 years old) were randomized and allocated in three groups: group receiving resistance training and supplementation receiving resistance training, whey protein and vitamin D; group received resistance and placebo training receiving resistance training and placebo, and control group without any intervention. Body composition was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks. Results: The mean age was 74.87 (± 8.14) years. A significant difference ( p = 0.042) was observed between the group receiving resistance training and supplementation and control groups in relation to lean mass increase (kg) at 24 weeks. After 24 weeks of intervention, there was a significant increase in Relative index of muscle mass for the two groups that underwent resistance training, group received resistance and placebo training ( p = 0.042) and group receiving resistance training and supplementation ( p = 0.045), in relation to the control. Conclusion: Combined supplementation of whey protein and vitamin D with resistance training can significantly improve lean mass, total mass, and relative index of muscle mass in institutionalized older adults.

Comparative Efficacy of Different Protein Supplements on Muscle Mass, Strength, and Physical Indices of Sarcopenia among Community-Dwelling, Hospitalized or Institutionalized Older Adults Undergoing Resistance Training: A Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…Eleven RCTs reported withdraw of participants due to noncompliance of PS by an attrition rate of 2.0-32.1% [89,91,103,113,119,126,136,143,153,159,169]. Noncompliance of RT were reported by 17 RCTs with an attrition rate of 4.5-31.3% [91,101,103,111,114,121,[124][125][126]133,138,140,151,159,164,169,170]. There was no difference in compliance across all the treatment regimens with reference to RC (Figure 9A).…”

“…Among all participants, 2458 (46.6%) received PS in combination with RT, 415 (7.9%) received PS alone, 1664 (31.6%) received RET alone, and 735 (13.9%) received RC (Table 1). With respect to the follow-up time points for outcome assessment, 57 out of 78 included RCTs conducted a short-term duration of ≤12 weeks; 23 out of 78 RCTs [91,[98][99][100][101][102]110,112,123,126,134,136,137,140,143,144,[150][151][152]158,160,164,172] employed a medium-term time frame ranging from 14 to 24 weeks, and 4 RCTs [127,130,139,144] assessed a long-term outcome ranging from 9 to 12 months (Table S2).…”