Dietary Supplements Use and Associated Determinants Among Adult Population in Southern Bangladesh

Dietary supplement use is now widespread worldwide; however, very few studies have been taken to determine the characteristics of people who take supplements in Bangladesh. The current study aimed to assess dietary sup/lement use and determine its associated factors among adult population in southern Bangladesh. This was a cross sectional study where data regarding dietary use and other associated factors were collected through a structured questionnaire based on one year personal recall method from 300 male and females aged between 15-65 years in three districts of southern Bangladesh. χ 2 tests, binary logistic regression and other required data analyses were carried out by Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS)-22.0 software at level of significance at 10% and 5%. About 41% participants used any of different dietary supplements during their last one year. Dietary Supplement (DS) use was more common among female (45%) than male (39%) participants. About 33% of DS user initiated supplements use without any physicians’ prescription. Its use was found to increase with age, education, lower physical activity and to decrease with obesity and smoking. Participants who regularly took their meal at home were 44.7% less likely to use DS than the participants who did not (β= -0.593, OR=0.553; p 2 =5.583; p<0.1). Body mass index was not significantly associated with supplement use. The most commonly reported reasons for DS use were “to improve health” (38%) and “to recover from disease” (36%). Dietary supplement use is common behavior among the population of southern Bangladesh. Various demographic and lifestyle factors can affects the use of dietary supplements. Further qualitative and quantitative dietary supplement assessment is necessary for its public health concern.