Evaluation of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Related to Dietary Supplements Intake among College Students: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Food intake has been connected to health status for a long time. There are some products that are used to boost the nutrient density of the food intake, such as dietary supplements (DS). DS can defined as a concentrated source of nutrients with a nutritional or physiological effect that adds further nutritional value to the normal diet. Aim: This study investigated the intake of DS among students at the University of Jordan (JU) in Amman, as well as consumer's Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) regarding DS according to gender, Body Mass Index (BMI), science and humanities, and academic year streams. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross- sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted over three months on 381 students selected by using convenient sampling method from the JU from different faculties including freshmen students and senior students between April and May 2018. The KAP was used to assess awareness of the study group on the topic. The questionnaire was divided into two parts, part I included questions related to participant's socio- demographic characteristics and part II included 11 questions for assessing KAP related to DS. Face to face interview technique was used for data collection. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program ( version 22.0). Pearson's chi-square test for independence was used for the qualitative variables to detect the relationship between gender, BMI, faculty ( humanities or science) and academic year and the corresponding KAP toward DS. p-value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The results showed that the overall percentage of student's knowledge of DS is only 13.65%, which indicates lack of knowledge in regard to DS. It was found that the percentage of intake of DS at least one per week among students was approximately 42%, which is considered relatively high. Regarding the results of the present study, there were statistically significant differences in faculty (p=0.001**) and BMI subdivisions (p=0.03*) in term of previous knowledge. Science facultie's students had more information than humanities about the risks of DS (p=0.008*). Nearly (80%) of science and humanities faculties' students have not received any training or attended in any health campaign about DS. Most of the students trusted the information that comes from health care professionals (65%). One third of DS users consumed them for no certain purpose (34%). Pharmacies were the most common source to buy supplements (87%). Furthermore, vitamin D and iron were the most frequently reported DS type used, while herbal supplements, omega 6, omega 9, multi minerals were the least common DS among participants. Conclusion: It can be concluded from results of this study that there was a relative high prevalence of DS consumption among JU students and students in general lacked knowledge about DS.