ArticlePloS one2021
Prevalence, reasons, and determinants of dietary supplements use among undergraduate female students of health and non-health colleges in a Saudi public university.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Patterns and Determinants of Dietary Supplement Use and Their Public Health Implications Among Adults in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Article
- Nutraceuticals in Pregnancy: A Special Focus on Probiotics.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Use of Dietary Supplements among Polish Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Two-Center Pilot Study.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Article
- Factors That Influence the Use of Dietary Supplements among the Students of Wroclaw Medical University in Poland during the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 9 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
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 3rd year 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.
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