Abstract
Assessments of vitamin-D intake and sunlight exposure in a consecutive series of geriatric inpatients were compared with biochemical indicators of osteomalacia. Vitamin-D intakes were generally low (average 64 I.U. per day), but showed no correlation with biochemical findings. Sunlight exposure was significantly correlated with serum-calcium and serum-phosphate but not with serum-alkaline-phosphatase. Women had poorer sunlight exposure, which may explain their greater vulnerability to osteomalacia. Dietary vitamin-D intakes of these elderly patients were inadequate when there was no sunlight exposure and the diet had to provide for the total requirement. 100 I.U. per day of vitamin D is probably an underestimate of the requirement for the housebound, and most elderly people rely on sunlight exposure to protect them from osteomalacia. Osteomalacia in the elderly is perhaps better thought of as "osteomalacia of the housebound" rather than "nutritional osteomalacia". Many old people may be in a stage of "biochemical osteomalacia" because of sunlight lack.
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