Dietary supplement use is common in older adult drivers: an analysis from the AAA LongROAD study
DOI: 10.1186/s12906-024-04623-x
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Summary
This study addresses the prevalence, patterns, and temporal stability of dietary supplement (DS) use among older adult drivers, a population with limited longitudinal data on supplement consumption. While cross-sectional surveys indicate high DS usage in older adults, real-world frequencies and contributions to polypharmacy remain poorly understood. The research aims to quantify DS burden, identify common formulations, track usage trends over time, and determine demographic associations with DS propensity. The authors conducted a secondary analysis of data from the AAA LongROAD study, a multi-center prospective cohort of 2,990 drivers aged 65–79 years recruited across five U.S. sites between 2015 and 2017. Participants underwent baseline and annual "brown bag" medication reviews, where all prescription and non-prescription compounds were documented and coded using the AHFS Pharmacologic-Therapeutic Classification System. DS were identified through specific AHFS tiers or unclassified entries confirmed by clinicians. Statistical analyses included frequency counts, chi-squared tests, and pairwise T-tests to evaluate associations between demographics, medication burden, and DS use over a two-year period. Results indicated that 84% of participants used at least one DS during the study, with 55% reporting consistent use across all time points. DS accounted for approximately 30% of the total pharmacologic pill burden. The most common supplements were vitamin D, multivitamins, calcium, and omega-3 formulations, which showed stable usage over time. In contrast, herbal supplements and cannabis products were rare (<1% per year). Demographic analysis revealed that White non-Hispanic individuals, females, those aged 75–79, and participants taking more non-supplement medications were significantly more likely to use DS. Furthermore, DS use was strongly associated with polypharmacy; participants with five or more medications were significantly more likely to be DS users. Significant redundancy was observed, particularly with vitamin D, where many users took the same component in multiple formulations. The findings highlight that DS use is common, stable, and a substantial contributor to polypharmacy in older adults. The authors conclude that healthcare providers must account for DS formulations when assessing medication burden, as they introduce risks of drug interactions, adverse effects, and financial costs. Given that many patients do not report DS use to providers, systematic documentation is necessary to mitigate safety risks and improve medication compliance in this aging population.
Key finding
Dietary supplement use is prevalent and relatively stable among older adult drivers, accounting for approximately 30% of their total pill burden and contributing significantly to polypharmacy.
Methodology
naturalistic
Sample size: 2990
Provenance
The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via author_sweep_intake on 2026-05-27 (2 acquisition events logged).
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | author_sweep | — | — | 3 | 2026-05-28 |
| archive | success | canonical_url | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-06 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 3 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| enrich | skipped | — | — | — | 3 | 2026-06-04 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 15 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.
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