This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
High utilization of glucosamine found among Australian population
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
According to the results of this study, 20% of the Australian population aged 45 years and older consumes glucosamine.
Using data collected from the 45 and Up Study, researchers randomly selected 266,848 participants from the Medicare Australian database to complete a postal questionnaire on their use of glucosamine between February 2006 and December 2009.
Twenty-two percent of participants reported using glucosamine in the 4 weeks prior to the survey. Participants who reported treatment for osteoarthritis also reported higher use of glucosamine vs. participants not reporting osteoarthritis. Other health conditions, such as cancer, heart attack and other heart diseases, were negatively associated with glucosamine use. Glucosamine use was also higher among participants who rated their overall health as being very good or good, as well as among participants who rated their overall quality of life as being excellent or very good.
Participants who were former smokers or non-smokers, had a household annual income of $20,000 to $49,999 or $50,000 to 69,999, aged 60 years to 69 years or 70 years to 79 years, women, residing in inner or outer regional areas and with private health insurance were more likely to use glucosamine.
“The high utilization of glucosamine may have important clinical ramifications, highlighting the need for primary care providers to discuss self-prescribed [complementary and alternative medicine] CAM use — including glucosamine use — with all their patients, not just those that they suspect of being users. Additionally, given the product variability and quality issues surrounding glucosamine preparations, the high utilization of glucosamine highlights the need for further attention to these issues to ensure effective application in the treatment or prevention of osteoarthritis,” the researchers stated in their study. “Given the concerns raised over potential drug interactions between glucosamine and common pharmaceuticals such as warfarin, it is important for the medical profession to be aware of the use of this dietary supplement among their patients and for researchers to further investigate the reasons for and details of glucosamine use.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Collapse
Sibbritt D. PloS One. 2012; doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041540.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts