Changes in Reported Dietary Supplement Use in Cognitively Normal National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Participants Aged 55 and Older From 2015 to 2019.

BACKGROUND

Although reported dietary supplement use is common in older adults, evaluations of dietary supplement use over the past 10 y are lacking.

OBJECTIVE

This analysis determined changes in reported dietary supplement use in cognitively normal older adults (aged ≥ 55 y) using the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center data from 2015 to 2019 using a serial cross-sectional study design.

METHODS

The first available visit for cognitively normal participants aged ≥ 55 y from 2015 to 2019 with a complete medication form was used, resulting in 9357 participants. Associations between visit year categories and reported use of dietary supplement categories/individual supplements were tested using categorical statistics. To determine whether the probabilities of reported supplement use changed in 2019 compared with those of 2015, z-scores and two-sided P values were used. Weighted analyses were used to confirm analytical findings.

RESULTS

When comparing 2015 and 2019, the reported use of any dietary supplement decreased from 77.7% in 2015 to 71.0% in 2019 (P < 0.0001); any vitamin from 72.5% to 65.5% (P < 0.0001); any mineral from 39.2% to 30.4% (P < 0.0001); "other" nonvitamin/nonmineral supplements from 34.4% to 26.9% (P < 0.0001), calcium from 31.2% to 21.7% (P < 0.0001), multivitamins from 48.4% to 38.4% (P < 0.0001), potassium from 5.6% to 3.5% (P = 0.001), vitamin C from 13.0% to 9.2% (P = 0.0002), chondroitin from 6.0% to 4.1% (P = 0.006), glucosamine from 11.1% to 6.5% (P < 0.0001), and all omega fatty acids from 25.2% to 17.0% (P < 0.0001). Reported use increased for vitamin B7/biotin from 3.1% in 2015 to 5.8% in 2019 (P = 0.0003), melatonin from 3.1% to 5.8% (P = 0.0002), and turmeric from 1.2% to 4.7% (P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

Although the reported use of many major dietary supplement categories and individual supplements significantly decreased in older adults from 2015 to 2019, biotin, turmeric, and melatonin significantly increased. Because biotin may interfere with some laboratory tests, this may have important public health implications.