Vitamin Therapy in JGH Patients

There is a high prevalence of hypovitaminosis C and D in our hospital and other acute-care hospitals. Since the correction of these presumed deficiency states is simple, safe and inexpensive, their documented or suspected presence would normally be considered sufficient indication to correct them. However, the common practice is to ignore them. Identification of specific measurable medical consequences of hypovitaminosis C or D would provide a stronger case to treat or prevent in-hospital vitamin deficiency states.

Biochemical deficiencies of vitamin C and D have both been linked to mood disturbance, and hypovitaminosis C reportedly increases blood histamine concentrations.

We recently found that the provision of vitamin C (500 mg twice daily) but not vitamin D (1000 IU twice daily) promptly improved the average mood score of acutely hospitalized patients. We will now conduct a closely similar randomized clinical trial using a more adequate dose of vitamin D, namely 5000 IU/day for up to 10 days.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Patients With Hypovitaminosis C and D; Vitamin Deficiencies
• Intervention / Treatment: Dietary supplement: vitamin C or vitamin D

Detailed Description

HYPOTHESIS:

Adequate vitamin C or vitamin D provision to mentally competent acutely hospitalized patients for 7 to 10 days will correct their biochemical deficiency, improve their mood, and (in the vitamin C-treated patients) reduce blood histamine concentrations.

PROTOCOL:

1. Mentally competent patients fluent in English or French admitted to the surgical or medical units of the hospital will be offered participation.
2. Plasma vitamin C and 25-hydroxyvitamin D, serum C-reactive protein, parathyroid hormone level (a measure of vitamin D adequacy) and blood histamine will be measured in participating patients prior to starting the treatment and after 7 to 10 days of treatment.
3. Within 24 h prior to and within 24 after the 5-10 d treatment course the patient will complete the POMS-B, a validated one-page 30-item questionnaire that assesses mood and energy, and the Distress Thermometer. Patients followed only for the 5-10 d duration of the clinical trial.
4. The chart will be reviewed for age, sex, diagnosis, and pertinent lab results.
5. After the initial blood sample has been drawn and the questionnaire completed the patient will begin treatment either with vitamin C 500 mg twice daily or vitamin D 5000 IU daily; both vitamins will be prescribed by one of the collaborating physicians without knowledge of the person who recruits, assesses and follows the patient. Treatment assignment will be by coin toss.

7. The questionnaire and blood sampling will be repeated after 7 to 10 days of treatment (as determined by feasibility and the situation on the ward) or prior to discharge if discharge is going to occur before the full course of treatment.

8. Neither the patient nor the person who administers the questionnaires will know which patient receives vitamin C or D. The vitamin D and C tablets are distinguishable, so patients motivated to do so could figure out which vitamin they are being prescribed. Since both treatments are being used to correct deficiency diseases which are strongly suspected to affect mood, neither patients, nurses, nor the students following the patients have no basis to anticipate that one treatment will improve their mood more than the other one.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 88
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Quebec
    • Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3T 1E2
      • Jewish General Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• acutely hospitalized in our hospital
• mentally competent
• judged likely to remain in hospital for at least the following 7 days
• fluent in French or English

Exclusion Criteria:

• presence of hypercalcemia
• receiving hemodialysis treatment
• critically ill
• unable to take medication by mouth

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: vitamin C; vitamin C 500 mg twice daily	Dietary supplement: vitamin C or vitamin D; vitamin C 500 mg twice daily versus vitamin D 5000 IU daily for 7 to 10 days
Active Comparator: vitamin D; vitamin D 5000 IU daily	Dietary supplement: vitamin C or vitamin D; vitamin C 500 mg twice daily versus vitamin D 5000 IU daily for 7 to 10 days

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
mood	total mood disturbance score on the POMS-B (profile of mood states). Durations of hospital stay are variable and often unpredictable. The intended duration of therapy is 7 to 10 days of treatment, with baseline just prior to starting and outcome measurement recorded just after the final day of therapy. The 7-10 day window is necessary and valid to account for vagaries in duration of hospital stay as well as the interfering effect of weekends when less staffing is available. As in our prior published work, any treatment duration 5 days or longer is included as sufficient.	prior to and after 5-10 days of treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Blood histamine concentration	Blood histamine concentration. Durations of hospital stay are variable and often unpredictable. The intended duration of therapy is 7 to 10 days of treatment, with baseline just prior to starting and outcome measurement recorded just after the final day of therapy. The 7-10 day window is necessary and valid to account for vagaries in duration of hospital stay as well as the interfering effect of weekends when less staffing is available. As in our prior published work, any treatment duration 5 days or longer is included as sufficient.	prior to and after 5-10 days of treatment
distress	the distress thermometer. Durations of hospital stay are variable and often unpredictable. The intended duration of therapy is 7 to 10 days of treatment, with baseline just prior to starting and outcome measurement recorded just after the final day of therapy. The 7-10 day window is necessary and valid to account for vagaries in duration of hospital stay as well as the interfering effect of weekends when less staffing is available. As in our prior published work, any treatment duration 5 days or longer is included as sufficient.	prior to and after 5-10 days of treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Jewish General Hospital
• Collaborators: McGill University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Wang Y, Liu XJ, Robitaille L, Eintracht S, MacNamara E, Hoffer LJ. Effects of vitamin C and vitamin D administration on mood and distress in acutely hospitalized patients. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Sep;98(3):705-11. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.112.056366. Epub 2013 Jul 24.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: June 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 1, 2011
• Study Completion (Actual): September 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 21, 2011
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 27, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): June 28, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 2, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 28, 2018
• Last Verified: February 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: vitamin D; distress; cholecalciferol; mood; ascorbic acid; vitamin C; hypovitaminosis
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nutrition Disorders; Deficiency Diseases; Malnutrition; Avitaminosis; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Protective Agents; Micronutrients; Bone Density Conservation Agents; Antioxidants; Vitamin D; Vitamins; Ascorbic Acid
• Other Study ID Numbers: 11-041