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Standing alongside the health-conscious general public, physicians and nurses have acknowledged that they, too, use and recommend dietary supplements.
A new study published in Nutrition Journal analysed data from the “Life…supplemented" Healthcare Professionals (HCP) Impact Study and found that 72 percent of physicians and 89 percent of nurses used dietary supplements. Equally intriguing, some 79 percent of physicians and 82 percent of nurses said that they recommend dietary supplements to their patients.
“Health professionals including physicians and nurses are just as interested in healthy lifestyles as members of the general public and are just as likely to benefit from rational supplementation,” note the authors, Annette Dickinson, Andrew Shao and Nicolas Boyon.
The study found that multivitamins were the number-one supplement of choice among healthcare professionals, followed by Vitamins C, B complex, D, E and calcium.
Overall health and wellness is the biggest reason for supplementation, according to 40 percent of physicians and 48 percent of nurses. Over three-quarters (75 percent of physicians and 79 percent of nurses) also indicated that they would be interested in ongoing education about the benefits of supplements.
More than two-thirds cited multiple reasons ranging from bone and joint health and flu and colds to heart and immune health for using supplements, and most list similar reasons for recommending supplements to patients.
This survey adds to the already published data showing that healthcare professionals use supplements.
Source: A Dickinson, N Boyon and A Shao, Nutrition Journal, Volume 8, Issue 29, pages 2891-8-29, “Physicians and Nurses Use and Recommend Dietary Supplements: Report of a Survey.”
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