Geriatricians Health Survey 2000

OBJECTIVES: To characterize geriatricians' preventive health behaviors incl uding vitamin/supplement use, exercise, smoking, alcohol use, and weight co ntrol. DESIGN: Mailed questionnaire. SETTING: United States. PARTICIPANTS: Two thousand six hundred eleven U.S. physicians certified as having added qualifications in geriatric medicine and who were members in t he American Geriatrics Society; 1,524 returned completed questionnaires (58 %). MEASUREMENTS: Rates of supplement use and recommendations, preventive healt h visits, advance directive completion, exercise, religious service attenda nce, smoking, alcohol use, and amount of adult weight gain. RESULTS: Most responding geriatricians took at least one vitamin supplement : 50% vitamin E, 50% a multivitamin (MVI), and 31% vitamin C. Calcium inges tion was common among women. Other supplement use was uncommon: ginkgo comp ounds were consumed by 47 (3%), and 77 (5%) took a variety of other nonvita min supplements. Over 90% recommended vitamins, especially multivitamins an d vitamin E, at least sometimes. Recommendations for ginkgo (38%) and St. J ohn's wort (33%) were also common. Almost half of respondents had completed a formal advance directive. Exercise was practiced at least weekly by 88%. Cigarette smoking was rare (1%), but at least occasional alcohol use was c ommon (85%). Most of respondents were men (74%), and 35% had completed fell owship training. CONCLUSION: Vitamin/supplement use was common among responding geriatrician s but not universal. Respondents often recommended MVI, vitamin E, and vita min C, but were less likely to consume or recommend other supplements. The most common preventive health behavior among our respondents was exercise.