Supplementation With Vitamin D and Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Incidence of Heart Failure Hospitalization

Among older adults, heart failure (HF) is the leading cause of hospitalization in the US and is associated with high costs and mortality1. Vitamin D and marine omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids have each been associated with reduced risks of HF in observational studies, but randomized trial evidence is limited. The current ancillary study sought to investigate the effects of vitamin D and n-3 supplements on the incidence of HF hospitalization in a large multi-ethnic cohort. VITAL-HF is an ancillary study of the parent VITAL trial, which is a completed randomized trial with a two-by-two factorial design to examine the efficacy of vitamin D3 (2000 IU/d) and n-3 fatty acids (1 gram per day, including eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA, 460 mg] + docosahexaenoic acid [DHA, 380 mg]) for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer in 25, 871 adults from 2011 to 2017. Detailed description of the VITAL design and main results has been published2. We excluded 36 participants with prevalent HF for current analyses. Each participant signed informed consent and the study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Brigham and Women's Hospital.