Dietary supplements use during hospitalization

INTRODUCTION: Consumption of dietary supplements (DS) by patients in the community is rising. DS affect human health, and safety issues regarding concomitant DS-medication use are underemphasized. Consequently, the Ministry of Health issued a directive regarding the need for assessing DS use in every patient and documenting such use in the medical record.

AIMS: To evaluate the rate of DS consumption in hospitalized patients, and to assess documentation of such consumption.

METHODS: This was a prospective cross-sectional study. Patients hospitalized in the medical wards of a public-academic hospital in Israel, between the years 2009-2010, were interviewed regarding their use of DS. The medical records were searched for documentation of DS use.

RESULTS: A total of 895 hospitalized patients were interviewed; 691 agreed to answer the questionnaire (compliance rate 77%). The analysis referred to 648 fully-completed questionnaires. Of the participants, 359 (55.4%) were DS consumers. On multivariable analysis, DS consumption was associated with older age, female gender, higher education status, and the presence of psychiatric disease. Only 11.4% of DS users had documentation of such use in their medical record.

CONCLUSIONS: DS consumption is common amongst hospitalized patients, and is overlooked by the medical team. Patients and doctors should be more aware of the possible adverse effects of DS use and their potential herb-drug interactions. Education regarding appropriate communication on DS use should be established.