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.

• Many physicians cited time constraints and other more pressing health topics as primary challenges that prevented discussions about dietary supplements.

“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.

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.

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.

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.