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Regularity of use of supplements over a one‐month period: results from the SURE Study
Author(s) -
Wilkens Lynne R.,
Murphy Suzanne P.,
Monroe Kristine R.,
Steffen Alana D.,
Albright Cheryl L.,
Yonemori Kim,
Morimoto Yukiko
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.341.2
Subject(s) - multivitamin , dietary supplement , medicine , vitamin , herbal supplement , alternative medicine , food science , biology , pathology
The Supplement Reporting (SURE) Study is intended to compare methods of supplement reporting. Participants were adults, aged 58 and over, who reported some supplement use. Three hundred and eighty‐three older adults completed a one‐month diary of supplement use, where they recorded the specific type, including brand and name, and number of supplement doses consumed on each day. A total of 1771 supplements were reported. In general, participants regularly took the supplements that they reported. On average, each supplement was taken on 74% of the diary days, and one‐third of supplements were taken each day. These statistics were similar for multivitamin/mineral combinations, single vitamins, single minerals and herbals. Regular use was more common in individuals consuming fewer supplements: on average, each supplement was taken on 80% of the days in individuals reporting 1‐4 supplements and 67% for those taking 10 or more. We define a run to be a series of consecutive days where a supplement was consumed. Supplements were consumed in an average of 2.3 runs across the one‐month period, with an average run length of 9.5 days There appear to be few intermittently consumed supplements, with only 11.5% being recorded 1‐3 times, thus indicating use of less than once a week. Intermittent use was more common for single minerals and herbals than for multivitamin and single vitamin formulations. Supported by NCI grant R01 CA106744.