Prevalence, reasons, and determinants of dietary supplements use among undergraduate female students of health and non-health colleges in a Saudi public university

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247295
• Publication Date: 2021-03-03T19:41:05Z
• Authors: Md. Ashraful Islam; Aseel Fuad Al-kar...; Mehwish Rizvi; Zeb-Un Nisa; Ahmed Majed Albak...; Mohammed Abdullah...; Muhammad Shahid I...; Abdullah Isa Almuzel; Hani Sadiq Al Afif; Mansour Adam Mahmoud; Alnada Abdalla Mo...; Mohammad Akbar Ho...; Muhammad Bilal Ma...; Atta Abbas Naqvi; Abdul Haseeb; Shazia Jamshed
• Keywords: Adult; Family medicine; Adolescent; Universities; Science; Saudi Arabia; Nursing; FOS: Health sciences; Biochemistry; Food science; Young Adult; Dietary supplement; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Consumer Acceptance; Health Sciences; Prevalence; Pathology; Humans; Students; Cross-sectional study; Public health; Role of Oxidative Stress in Health and Disease; Impact of Ultra-Processed Foods on Health; Arabic; Herbal Medicine Use and Safety Monitoring; 4. Education; Q; R; Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health; Linguistics; FOS: Philosophy, ethics and religion; 3. Good health; Philosophy; Chemistry; Environmental health; Complementary and alternative medicine; Dietary Supplements; FOS: Languages and literature; Medicine; Female; Research Article; Education, Medical, Undergraduate

PurposeThe aim of this study was to gather data from female students studying in both health and non-health colleges at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University and report the prevalence, reasons, and determinants of dietary supplements use.MethodsA month-long cross-sectional study was conducted in health and non-health colleges affiliated to Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Convenient sampling was employed, and the data was gathered through an online survey using the English and Arabic versions of the Dietary Supplement Questionnaire (DSQ). The data was analyzed using SPSS version 23 and Medcalc. The study was approved by an ethics committee.ResultsData from 545 participants was collected. The overall prevalence of dietary supplement use was 32.7% (95% CI: 29.06%– 36.51%). The prevalence was 29.77% (95% CI: 25.29%– 34.56%) among students at all health colleges combined and, it was 37.50% (95% CI: 31.36%– 43.96%) among students at all non-health colleges. Most students used a brand product, spent a monthly cost of SAR 286 (USD 76.3) on supplements and agreed that supplements were good for health (N = 392, 71.9%). Students from non-health- colleges agreed that dietary supplements are good for health in greater numbers as compared to non-health college students (p < 0.001). Students aged ≥ 20 years, studying in a non-health college and up to 3rdyear of study, were more 2 times more likely to agree that dietary supplements are good for health.ConclusionSupplements were commonly used among female students at this university however, it was quite low as compared to students from other local and regional universities. Prevalence was higher in non-health colleges as compared to health colleges and the most commonly used supplements were brand products and, multivitamins, used for general health and well-being. This highlights the inclination of students towards supplement use.