Still, studies about the use of dietary supplements in Iran are limited, and there is not enough information about dietary supplement consumption status in the north of Iran.
The use of dietary supplements has become a growing trend worldwide, and it may be affected by demographic and sociocultural factors. Nevertheless, most people use supplements with the thought that supplements are natural and safe compounds that can improve their health, reduce symptoms and prevent disease. Also, some health experts are concerned about the interactions of these supplements with the drugs used by people with chronic diseases, especially those with cancer. Some studies have suggested the role of supplements in preventing or progression of chronic diseases however other studies have not found a positive association between supplementation and chronic diseases. It is estimated that more than 50% of adults in the UK use at least one dietary supplement daily. Nowadays, various types of dietary supplements are widely sold through pharmacies. Using dietary supplements such as vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, trace elements, amino acids has become an important health trend worldwide. Based on the Food and Drug Administration description, a dietary supplement is a product that contains nutrients to increase the nutritional value of one’s diet.
Previous studies showed that adults with cancer or other chronic diseases tend to use supplements more than healthy subjects, and according to NHANES data, dietary supplements use has been rising since the 1970s. The rising trend of obesity has also made it one of the main leading causes of NCDs in the world, which makes it the important risk factor of other chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and cancers. Many factors may contribute to the development of chronic diseases, including genetics and environmental factors. In Iran, the first rank of death is attributed to cardiovascular disease, and the third is cancer. This organization also predicts that NCDs will be responsible for three-quarters of all deaths in the world by 2030. According to the definition of the World Health Organization (WHO), the main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases (CVD), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes which are collectively responsible for almost 70% of all deaths worldwide. Female sex, older age groups, and higher educated participants, and among chronic disease, patients with HTN, CVD, and diabetes were more likely to be users of any DS.įollowing the epidemiological transition, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a major part of the community’s health problems. This study showed that a quarter of the participants were DS users. Participants who had a history of diabetes, HTN, CVD, Obesity, and Central Obesity were more likely to intake DS in comparison with healthy subjects. After adjustment for confounders, those with female gender, the highest age ranges (55-65 and > 65 years), high academic education, living in urban regions, and good economic status were more likely to be DSs consumers however, married and smoker subjects were more likely to consume DS. The highest percent of the history of chronic disease was central obesity (62.7%), HTN (43.2%), and general obesity (32.7), respectively.
The highest consumption of DS was calcium/vitamin D (11.1%), ferrous sulfate (8.8%), and vitamin D pearl or ampoule (7.7%). Resultsġ0,520 men and women aged 35–70 years in Some’e Sara County (including urban regions and 39 villages) were studied. The chance of supplement use according to demographic, socioeconomic, and lifestyle variables and history of chronic disease was analyzed by logistic regression. The history of chronic disease was defined by a trained team. Supplement use during last year and its type, demographic factors, socioeconomic status, lifestyle habits were asked by face-to-face interview. This large cross-sectional study was conducted as a part of the PERSIAN Guilan cohort study. The aim of the present study was to define the frequency of DS use and its association with socioeconomic factors among participants with selected main non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) (diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertension (HTN), cancers, and obesity in the north of Iran. Some people use supplements with the thought that they can improve their health, reduce symptoms and prevent disease. Dietary supplements (DSs) use have become a growing trend worldwide, and it may be affected by demographic and sociocultural factors.