Author Identifier (ORCID)
Negar Ghasemifard: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2753-4128
Joshua R. Lewis: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1003-8443
Simone Radavelli-Bagatini: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6821-5217
Simon M. Laws: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4355-7082
Jonathan M. Hodgson: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6184-7764
Marc Sim: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5166-0605
Abstract
Background: Concerns have been raised around whether calcium supplements increase dementia risk. This post-hoc analysis of a five-year double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised trial of calcium supplements for primary fracture prevention evaluated the long-term risk for dementia in older women, randomised to either calcium supplements or placebo. Methods: 1460 community-dwelling dementia-free Australian women (≥70 years) were randomised to 1200 mg/day calcium carbonate (n = 730) or placebo (n = 730) for five years and were observed for an additional 9.5 years afterwards. Over 14.5 years, all-cause dementia events (comprising dementia-related hospitalisations and/or deaths) were identified from linked health records. The influence of calcium supplementation on dementia outcomes were examined using Kaplan–Meier survival curves and Cox regression under intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP, ≥80% tablet compliance, n = 830; 50.6% calcium supplements) criteria. Findings: Mean baseline age was 75.1 ± 2.7 years. Dementia events were recorded in 269 women (18.4%), comprising 243 hospitalisations (16.6%) or 114 deaths (7.8%). No differences in the cumulative dementia-free survival rates were observed between groups in ITT and PP analyses. Compared to placebo, calcium supplements did not increase risk of dementia-related events (unadjusted ITT hazard ratio [HR] 0.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.71–1.15), hospitalisations (HR 0.89, 95% CI 0.69–1.15) or deaths (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.54–1.13). Similar results were observed in PP analyses. Interpretation: Calcium supplementation for five years did not increase the risk of all-cause dementia events over 14.5 years in community-dwelling older women. Findings do not support concerns that calcium supplementation increases long-term risk of dementia. Funding: National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
10-1-2025
Volume
63
Publication Title
Lancet Regional Health Western Pacific
Publisher
Elsevier
School
Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute / School of Medical and Health Sciences / Centre for Precision Health
RAS ID
84240
Funders
National Health and Medical Research Council / Dementia Australia / Royal Perth Hospital Research Foundation Career Advancement Fellowship / Western Australian Future Health Research and Innovation Fund (2021/6) / National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship (102817)
Grant Number
NHMRC Numbers : 254627, 303169, 572604
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Ghasemifard, N., Lewis, J. R., Radavelli-Bagatini, S., Laws, S. M., Stephan, B. C., Hodgson, J. M., Zhu, K., Prince, R. L., & Sim, M. (2025). Calcium supplementation and the risk of dementia in the Perth Longitudinal Study of Aging Women: A post-hoc analysis of a randomised clinical trial for fracture prevention. The Lancet Regional Health Western Pacific, 63, 101694. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2025.101694