Multivitamin Use Not Linked to Mortality Benefit in U.S. Adults

WEDNESDAY, June 26, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Multivitamin (MV) use is not associated with mortality benefit among U.S. adults, according to a study published online June 26 in JAMA Network Open.

Erikka Loftfield, Ph.D., M.P.H., from the National Institutes of Health in Rockville, Maryland, and colleagues estimated the association of MV use with mortality risk, accounting for confounding by healthy lifestyle and reverse causation. The cohort study used data from three U.S. prospective cohort studies, each with baseline MV use assessed from 1993 to 2001 and follow-up MV use assessed from 1998 to 2004; follow-up was for up to 27 years.

Data were included for 390,124 adults; during follow-up, there were 164,762 deaths. The researchers found that 49.3 and 42.0 percent of daily MV users were female and college educated, respectively, compared with 39.3 and 37.9 percent among nonusers. Overall, 11.0 and 13.0 percent of daily users and nonusers, respectively, were current smokers. There was no association observed for MV use with lower all-cause mortality risk in the first or second halves of follow-up. For major causes of death and time-varying analyses, hazard ratios were similar.

“We did not find evidence to support improved longevity among healthy adults who regularly take multivitamins,” the authors write. “However, we cannot preclude the possibility that daily MV use may be associated with other health outcomes related to aging.”

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