A dietary questionnaire which included items relating to the use of specific vitamin preparations was sent to a randomly selected group of 2000 female, registered nurses aged 30 to 59 yr residing in 10 states. Among the 1742 women (87%) who returned completed questionnaires, the rates of use were 38% for multiple vitamins, 4% for specific preparations of vitamin A, 23% for vitamin C, and 15% for vitamin E. Women who used specific preparations of vitamins A, C, and E generally consumed them in quantities many times greater than the RDA. Use of specific vitamin preparations was found to increase with age and was highest in California.