VitaC4Care study version 3.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Vitamin C 4 care homes: a pilot and feasibility study to assess daily vitamin C requirement of care home residents
IRAS ID
296819
Contact name
Phyo Myint
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Aberdeen
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 2 days
Research summary
Older people in care homes are one of the most vulnerable groups with respect to risk, morbidity and mortality of severe coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). In the UK, almost half (47%) of all COVID-19 deaths occurred in care homes. The World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted vitamin C as an adjunctive therapy with biological plausibility for people with severe COVID-19. Previous research has indicated that up to 40% of care home residents in the UK are deficient in vitamin C, an essential immune supportive nutrient. This is a 10-fold higher deficiency level than that reported in community dwelling older people in the UK government’s National Diet and Nutrition Survey.
Due to lack of robust pharmacokinetic data in older people, the intake required to optimise the vitamin C status of this cohort is not yet known and may be higher than that for healthy adults; some have estimated as high as 400 mg/d (the current UK recommended nutrient intake (RNI) or vitamin C is 40 mg/d, which is sufficient to prevent deficiency, but not enough for optimal/saturating vitamin C status). Thus, this pilot and feasibility study will assess the intake requirements of care home residents for optimal vitamin C status. The purpose is to provide essential data for a future clinical trial assessing the efficacy of optimal vitamin C supplementation for risk, severity and duration of respiratory infections in this population who are at risk of such infections.
We will test our hypothesis that older people residing in care homes will have suboptimal vitamin C status and will require higher than recommended dietary intakes for optimal vitamin C status. We will use fast, convenient, non-invasive testing of urine samples for presence of vitamin C (detectable in urine indicating adequate vitamin C status) following daily supplementation with increasing oral doses of vitamin C (up to 500 mg). This will help determine the optimal level of supplementation required for optimal/saturating vitamin C status. This will be new data. We will also test the feasibility of the future trial by assessing the various procedures and processes in this cohort and setting.
To ensure the safety of this vulnerable cohort, the methods used can be readily carried out by care home staff, negating the need for research staff to enter the care home. All meetings with the research staff and consenting will be non-contact/virtual.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 5
REC reference
22/WS/0069
Date of REC Opinion
14 Jul 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion