An Investigation of Habitual Dietary Supplement Use Among 557 NCAA Division I Athletes

Background: Supplements may expose athletes to dangerous ingredients, banned substances, toxins or contaminants; however, few investigations assess use among collegiate athletes in the U.S. Objective: This cross-sectional study evaluated habitual dietary supplement intake, defined use >= 2 days/week over the past year, in NCAA Division I athletes. Methods: Male and female members of a NCAA Division I team, at two universities in southern California completed a 13-item survey. Among 705 eligible participants, 596 submitted surveys (84.5% response rate), 557 surveys included complete data. Chi-square (chi(2)) analyses evaluated differences among athletes based on sex, weight status, year in college, and sport-type. Independent t-test or ANOVA evaluated mean differences for continuous variables. Results: A total of 45.2% athletes (n = 252) reported taking supplements (>= 2 days/week over the past year). Vitamin/minerals (25.5%, n = 142), protein/amino acids (24.6%, n = 137) were used most frequently. Male, vs female athletes, took more supplements overall (1.2 +/- 0.1 vs 0.8 +/- 0.1, p = 0.004) and indicated higher use of protein/amino acid products (34.2% vs 13.5%, p < 0.005), whereas, females reported higher use of vitamin/minerals (30.5% vs 21.1%, p < 0.05). Higher supplement use was also reported by athletes with BMI >= 30.0 kg/m(2) (vs <30 kg/m(2), 1.9 +/- 0.3 vs 1.0 +/- 0.1, p = 0.02), and athletes in >= third college year (vs first or second year, 1.2 +/- 0.1 vs 0.9 +/- 0.1, p = 0.03). Conclusions: Nearly half of NCAA athletes reported habitual supplements use, with significant variation in patterns based on sex, sport-type, year in college, and weight status.