Diagnoses associated with dietary supplement use in a national dataset

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine if participant diagnosis, as determined by a health care provider, is associated with dietary supplement (DS) use. Design/setting: Surveys from 1255 study participants aged 34-84, part of the Midlife in the US Study (MIDUS 2 Survey) Biomarker Project, were reviewed. Participant data included pharmaceutical use (prescription and overthe-counter medications (OTC)), clinical symptoms and diagnosis, and laboratory results. Associations were calculated between the above participant characteristics and DS use. Main outcome measures: Frequency of DS use for physician-reported diagnoses. Results: Overall prevalence of DS use was 32.4%. Participants taking DS were more often female (p = .048), white (p < 0.001), and older (mean age 57 years, p < 0.001). Participants taking DS reported taking more OTC (p < .001) and prescription medications (p=.024), and had an increased number of chronic conditions (p = .004). Participants reporting physician-diagnosed diabetes were significantly less likely to be taking DS (p = .0066), while participants with eye disease (p = .001), high cholesterol (p = 0.041), cancer (p = 0.042), and arthritis (p = 0.044) were more likely to be taking DS than those without those conditions. No difference in DS use was found between patients with and without other identified medical conditions. After adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, and gender, only diabetes remained a significant predictor of decreased DS use (OR 0.588, CI 0.388-0.873, p = .01).

Dietary supplement use in ambulatory cancer patients: a survey on prevalence, motivation and attitudes

“…Similar results in patients with cancer have been described elsewhere (Alsanad et al 2016 ; Jermini et al 2019 ; Luo and Asher 2018 ; Schuerger et al 2019 ). In accordance to some studies (Alsanad et al 2016 ; Friedman et al 2019 ; Jermini et al 2019 ; Konig et al 2016 ; Schuerger et al 2019 ), our data shows a significantly higher frequency of DS use among women. This effect was due to the cohort with breast- and genital cancer disease, and most likely due to women with breast cancer, who have previously been shown to be highly motivated to use DS (Ferrucci et al 2009 ; Holzapfel et al 2020 ; Luo and Asher 2018 ; Miller et al 2009 ).…”

“…Calcium and magnesium are the most frequently taken supplements in our survey, which is in accordance with other studies with cancer patients (Alsanad et al 2016 ; Friedman et al 2019 ; Wilkinson and Stevens 2014 ). One-fifth of our participants reported taking either multivitamins or vitamin C, which again is comparable to the previously mentioned studies (Alsanad et al 2016 ; Wilkinson and Stevens 2014 ).…”

“…In fact, our study results show that overall frequency regarding DS use remains as high as in healthy individuals (Bailey et al 2011;Friedman et al 2019;Li et al 2010) and is only exceeded by the groups of cancer survivors and patients with breast cancer (Drozdoff et al 2018;Ferrucci et al 2009;Miller et al 2009). Calcium and magnesium are the most frequently taken supplements in our survey, which is in accordance with other studies with cancer patients (Alsanad et al 2016;Friedman et al 2019;Wilkinson and Stevens 2014). One-fifth of our participants reported taking either multivitamins or vitamin C, which again is comparable to the previously mentioned studies (Alsanad et al 2016;Wilkinson and Stevens 2014).…”

“…This effect was due to the cohort with breast- and genital cancer disease, and most likely due to women with breast cancer, who have previously been shown to be highly motivated to use DS (Ferrucci et al 2009 ; Holzapfel et al 2020 ; Luo and Asher 2018 ; Miller et al 2009 ). In fact, our study results show that overall frequency regarding DS use remains as high as in healthy individuals (Bailey et al 2011 ; Friedman et al 2019 ; Li et al 2010 ) and is only exceeded by the groups of cancer survivors and patients with breast cancer (Drozdoff et al 2018 ; Ferrucci et al 2009 ; Miller et al 2009 ).…”

The Association between the Use of Dietary Supplement and Psychological Status of Cancer Survivors in Korea: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…9) In previous study on general population, factors associated with more frequent use of DS were female gender (P=0.041), Caucasian (P<0.001), and older age (mean age, 56.98 years versus 53.34 years; P<0.001), and higher number of chronic conditions (P=0.004). 10) In a study of American cancer survivors, female gender (odds ratio [OR], 1.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.25-2.36) and higher education levels (OR, 5.44; 95% CI, 2.98-9.93) were associated with DS use. 11) For Korean female cancer survivors, educational achievement higher than elementary school level, moderate physical activity, low vegetable intake, and high circulating vitamin D levels were associated with supplement use.…”