Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Trends and types of dietary supplement usage amongst people visiting fitness centers in the Northern Border Region of Saudi Arabia

Nida Suhail¹ , Anshoo Agarwal², Baraah Tomah Abu Alsel², Tehreem Aftab³

¹Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia; ²Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia; ³Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia.

For correspondence:- Nida Suhail Email: nsuhail123@gmail.com Tel:+966562065176

Accepted: 2 February 2024 Published: 29 February 2024

Citation: Suhail N, Agarwal A, Alsel BT, Aftab T. Trends and types of dietary supplement usage amongst people visiting fitness centers in the Northern Border Region of Saudi Arabia. Trop J Pharm Res 2024; 23(2):401-408 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v23i2.21

© 2024 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the trends in dietary supplement (DS) usage and its socio-demographic determinants amongst fitness centre users in Arar, Saudi Arabia.

Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted among people visiting different fitness centers in Arar, Saudi Arabia, between December 2022 and March 2023. The sample comprised 150 people (male and female) aged ≥ 18 years, who completed a self-administered questionnaire.

Results: More than half (63.3 %) of the gym users regularly used DS, while the rest used DS occasionally. Young age (p < 0.001), female gender (p = 0.04), higher educational level (p = 0.006), single status (p = 0.001) and schooling (p < 0.001) had significant positive correlations with regular DS use, relative to occasional use. The most important reason for using DS was recommendation by physician (30.7 %), while the most common supplements used were multivitamins (alone or in combination with other drugs; 39.3 %). The participants were well-versed in the supportive role of DS, as well as the risks and adverse effects related to DS overuse.

Conclusion: The prevalence of DS usage is high among Saudi fitness center attendees, and it was significantly associated with socio-demographic and lifestyle variables. Furthermore, there are high levels of awareness among participants regarding the benefits and negative effects of DS.

Keywords: Dietary supplements, Trends, Fitness centres, Northern Border Region