Excessive and inappropriate use of medications, or 'polypharmacy', has been recognized as a public health problem. In addition, there is growing use of dietary supplements in the United States; however, little is known about the patterns of supplement use. Recent reports in the literature of cases of excessive or inappropriate use of herbal dietary supplements leading to the term 'polyherbacy'. The clinical vignettes described in this article highlight the need for further research on the nature and extent of multiple and inappropriate dietary supplement use or 'dietary supplement polypharmacy'. Clinical interviewing and population surveys both address this issue in complementary ways, and provide a further understanding of dietary supplement use patterns.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
4
8%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences
3
6%
Computer Science
3
6%
Social Sciences
3
6%
Other
8
15%
Unknown
14
26%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 19 May 2026.
All research outputs
#27,799,280
of 34,454,098 outputs
Outputs from Evidence-based Complementary & Alternative Medicine (eCAM)
#5,148
of 9,645 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#113,219
of 120,499 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Evidence-based Complementary & Alternative Medicine (eCAM)
#33
of 35 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,454,098 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 16th percentile – i.e., 16% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 9,645 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.5. This one is in the 38th percentile – i.e., 38% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 120,499 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 5th percentile – i.e., 5% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 35 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 5th percentile – i.e., 5% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
