Prevalent dietary supplement use in older New Zealand men

Because of a lack of recent data from New Zealand older men, we examined dietary supplement use in this demographic.

We surveyed men aged $gt;40 years who were participating in a trial of calcium supplementation on bone and cardiovascular outcomes.

Forty-seven percent reported using at least one supplement and 30% of users took more than two different supplements. Amongst users, median monthly expenditure on these products was NZ$20 (interquartile range: $10-$45). The most common supplements used were vitamins or minerals (49%), followed by nutritional oils (22%) (including fish oils, 13%) and glucosamine/chondroitin preparations (13%). Supplements were mainly taken for reasons of non-specific prophylaxis or health maintenance (58% of reasons), although 21% of reasons cited treatment or symptom alleviation for a medical condition. Daily requirements for vitamins A, D and E were exceeded, from supplement intake alone, by 12%, 10% and 40% of supplement users respectively.

Many older New Zealand men spend substantial amounts of money on dietary supplements despite uncertain health benefits. Health professionals should remain alert to supplement use by their patients, including males.