Prevalence and Determinants of Sex-Specific Dietary Supplement Use in a Greek Cohort

Abstract

We describe the profile of dietary supplement use and its correlates in the Epirus Health Study cohort, which consists of 1237 adults (60.5% women) residing in urban north-west Greece. The association between dietary supplement use and demographic characteristics, lifestyle behaviors, personal medical history and clinical measurements was assessed using logistic regression models, separately for women and men. The overall prevalence of dietary supplement use was 31.4%, and it was higher in women (37.3%) compared to men (22.4%; p-value = 4.2−08). Based on multivariable logistic regression models, dietary supplement use in women was associated with age (positively until middle-age and slightly negatively afterwards), the presence of a chronic health condition (OR = 1.71; 95% CI, 1.18–2.46), lost/removed teeth (OR = 0.52; 95% CI, 0.35–0.78) and diastolic blood pressure (OR per 5 mmHg increase =0.84; 95% CI, 0.73–0.96); body mass index and worse general health status were borderline inversely associated. In men, dietary supplement use was positively associated with being employed (OR = 2.53; 95% CI, 1.21–5.29). A considerable proportion of our sample used dietary supplements, and the associated factors differed between women and men.