CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 745Nutrition and Health StudiesComplementary and Alternative Medicine StudiesConsumer Attitudes and Food Labeling

Why US adults use dietary supplements

Bailey, Regan L., Gahche, Jaime J., Miller, Paige E., Thomas, Paul R., Dwyer, Johanna T.·2013·JAMA Internal Medicine
DOI 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.2299
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Dietary supplements are used by more than half of adults, although to our knowledge, the reasons motivating use have not been previously examined in US adults using nationally representative data. The purpose of this analysis was to examine motivations for dietary supplement use, characterize the types of products used for the most commonly reported motivations, and to examine the role of physicians and health care practitioners in guiding choices about dietary supplements. METHODS: Data from adults (≥20 years; n = 11 956) were examined in the 2007-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationally representative, cross-sectional, population-based survey. RESULTS: The most commonly reported reasons for using supplements were to "improve" (45%) or "maintain" (33%) overall health. Women used calcium products for "bone health" (36%), whereas men were more likely to report supplement use for "heart health or to lower cholesterol" (18%). Older adults (≥60 years) were more likely than younger individuals to report motivations related to site-specific reasons like heart, bone and joint, and eye health. Only 23% of products were used based on recommendations of a health care provider. Multivitamin-mineral products were the most frequently reported type of supplement taken, followed by calcium and ω-3 or fish oil supplements. Supplement users are more likely to report very good or excellent health, have health insurance, use alcohol moderately, eschew cigarette smoking, and exercise more frequently than nonusers. CONCLUSIONS: Supplement users reported motivations related to overall health more commonly than for supplementing nutrients from food intakes. Use of supplements was related to more favorable health and lifestyle choices. Less than a quarter of supplements used by adults were recommended by a physician or health care provider.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.2299

Cites

33 of 33 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • An enhanced feeling of well-being, a reduction in mental and physical fatigue, and improvements in psychological and cognitive functions are among the commonly reported motivations for taking supplements.

    “An enhanced feeling of well-being, a reduction in mental and physical fatigue and improvements in psychological and cognitive functions are also among the commonly reported motivations for taking supplements [8,9].”

    From Vitamins and Minerals for Energy, Fatigue and Cognition: A Narrative Review of the Biochemical and Clinical Evidence (2020) · cites this paper as [8]

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Bailey, R. L., Gahche, J. J., Miller, P. E., Thomas, P. R., & Dwyer, J. T.
Affiliations
National Institutes of Health (US)
ORCID
Venue
JAMA Internal Medicine
Publisher
American Medical Association (AMA)
Published
2013-03-11
Volume
173
Issue
5
Pages
355
ISSN
2168-6106 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.2299
OpenAlex
W2166486957
Cited by
745
References
33
Citations by year
2026: 38 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 66 · 2023: 55 · 2022: 56 · 2021: 67 · 2020: 63 · 2019: 57 · 2018: 70 · 2017: 65 · 2016: 45 · 2015: 59 · 2014: 51 · 2013: 12
FWCI
56.20
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • JAMA Internal Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutrition and Health Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling
Keywords
dietary supplements, multivitamin and mineral supplements, calcium supplements, omega-3 fatty acids, fish oil, provider recommendation, sex differences, age differences, health status, lifestyle factors, health insurance, alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity
MeSH terms
Adult, Age Factors, Attitude to Health, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Female, Health Status, Humans, Life Style, Male, Middle Aged, Motivation, Nutrition Surveys, Nutritional Requirements, Physician's Role, Preventive Medicine, Sex Factors, Socioeconomic Factors, United States, Health Behavior, Body Mass Index, Micronutrients, Dietary Supplements

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review