Behavioral/Social/Cultural Factors That Determine Dietary Supplement Use in the Elderly

Dietary supplement use is a world-wide growing phenomenon. Few studies, however, examine why increasing numbers of consumers are choosing to use dietary supplements. Some of the more frequently reported motivations for the increasing use of dietary supplements include a desire for health maintenance, a response to changes in eating patterns or health status due to changes in acute or chronic conditions, a belief in “anti-aging medicine, ” concerns about the adequacy or safety of the consumer food supply, or a desire for greater autonomy and control over self-care. Triggers for increasing the use of dietary supplements differ for different groups of persons and stem from different behavioral, social, and cultural roots. How can theoretical constructs such as susceptibility, locus of control, and self efficacy be useful in helping to understand the growth in use of dietary supplements? How do motivations differ across different segments of the population? What factors are primary motivators for initiation of supplement behaviors as well as the decision-making related to short-term or long-term use? How do use of supplements and herbs vary across cultures? How has information technology influenced the growth in supplement use? How do social norms influence the growth in use? For some, the growing use of dietary supplements and herbs are part of the growing use of healt