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TOPLINE:

Although 64.8% of primary care physicians recognized the importance of discussing dietary supplements and possible interaction with medications, a substantial proportion rarely or never addressed them directly during periodic health examinations. Time constraints and competing priorities were identified as the main barriers.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a cross-sectional, online questionnaire-based survey to analyze communication behaviors and perspectives of primary care physicians regarding dietary supplements during periodic health examinations.
• They included 162 residents (mean age, 50.2 years; 43.5% women), in family medicine training programs or family physicians between May and August 2021, who performed periodic health examinations in Germany.
• The team developed the questionnaire by conducting a literature review, multiple rounds of refinement by an expert panel, and cognitive debriefing interviews with six physicians.
• The responses by primary care physicians were categorized based on the frequency of communication as: Often (75%-100%), sometimes (25% to < 75%), or rarely to never (0% to < 25%) addressed.
• Investigators assessed the association between communication behavior and potential affecting factors using correlation analyses.

TAKEAWAY:

• Nearly two thirds of primary care physicians (64.8%) considered dietary supplements an important topic; however, 38.8% rarely or never addressed them directly during periodic health examinations, and nearly 50% reported that the topic did not arise spontaneously during examinations.
• Physicians who themselves used dietary supplements (Cramér’s V, 0.407; P < .001) or considered them important (Cramér’s V, 0.231; P < .016) were more likely to directly discuss them with patients during periodic health examinations.
• Many physicians cited time constraints and other more pressing health topics as primary challenges that prevented discussions about dietary supplements.

IN PRACTICE:

“Our findings emphasize the need for more proactive engagement by physicians in addressing supplement use with their patients,” the authors wrote.

“Providing clear guidance for GPs [general practitioners] on how to effectively address DS [dietary supplements] during PHEs [periodic health examinations] could enhance the quality of care and foster better patient outcomes,” they added.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Thomas Okon, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany. It was published online on May 8, 2025, in Journal of Primary Care and Community Health.

LIMITATIONS:

The sampling strategy in this study focused on specific federal states in Germany, thus limiting the generalizability of the findings. Potential self-report and recall biases may have affected the accuracy of the reported number of checkups conducted by physicians. The exclusion of missing data may have reduced the number of responses available for analysis.

DISCLOSURES:

This study received no financial support. The authors declared having no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.