Doctors Should Learn Patients' Self-Medicating Habits

Doctors Should Learn Patients' Self-Medicating Habits

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--Supplement use is associatedwith the presence of medical conditions, and health professionals should striveto understand self-medicating behavior, according to a study out of theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that was published in the Januaryissue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (24, 1:43-51, 2003)(www-east.elsevier.com/ajpm).Researchers mailed questionnaires asking about current dietary supplement use,medical history and demographics, and received 45,748 responses fromparticipants aged 50 to 75.

Supplement use was generally higher among older women who wereeducated, Caucasian and of normal body mass index. Additionally, supplement usewas higher among participants with medical conditions, although having diabetesor high stress levels was related with using fewer supplements. Researchers alsonoted that for specific supplements, vitamin E, niacin and folic acid werepopular among participants with cardiovascular disease, and calcium was popularamong participants with indigestion and acid reflux disease. Researchersconcluded that some associations appeared to be based on evidence for efficacy,while others could have been based on misinformation, such as the case might befor selenium with benign prostatic hyperplasia.