Table 3.

Frequency of discussion topics by supplement type, %

Discussion Topics	Total Frequency of Discussion	Vitamins / Minerals	Non-Vitamin Non-Mineral Dietary Supplements
N	738	525	213
1) Reason for taking (purpose / justification) †	46.5	39.1	64.8
2) How to Take	28.2	29.9	23.9
Number of pills	11.8	11.4	12.7
Frequency of use	13.8	14.1	13.2
Duration of use *	7.1	5.5	10.8
Dose †	15.2	18.9	6.1
3) Potential Risks †	17.3	13.7	26.3
Side effects	9.5	8.6	11.7
Interactions †	4.2	2.5	8.5
Safety *	1.4	0.8	2.8
Harmfulness †	6.1	3.8	11.7
4) Effectiveness †	16.7	13.0	25.8
Evidence for use†	6.0	3.6	11.7
FDA regulation / purity†	1.0	0.2	2.8
Utility †	18.4	14.5	28.2
5) Cost / Affordability *	4.2	3.2	6.6
Supplement communication index, mean (SD) † ‡	1.13 (1.2)	0.99 (1.1)	1.47 (1.2)

^*p < 0.05

^†p <= 0.001

^‡Mean score ranges from 0 to 5 and indicates the number of major topics (of the 5 listed above) touched upon during office visits