Evaluation of nutritional supplements prescribed, its associated cost and patients knowledge, attitude and practice towards nutraceuticals: A hospital based cross-sectional study in Kavrepalanchok, Nepal

Abstract

Background There is substantial increment in nutraceutical consumption in Nepal, although the data on its efficacy and safety is scarce. The practices of nutraceutical supplements users in Nepal remain undocumented. Therefore, this study was conducted to study the prescription pattern, cost, knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of the patient towards nutraceutical. Methods Descriptive cross-sectional study with stratified purposive sampling (n = 400) (patients from the out-patient departments of Scheer Memorial Adventist Hospital, Kavre, Nepal) was performed using a validated structured questionnaire assessing the socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude, practice of nutraceutical and total cost patients spent on nutraceutical alone. Pearson Chi-square test (x2) was used to investigate the association between socio-demographic variables and patients’ KAP (knowledge, attitude and practice) towards nutraceutical. One way ANOVA was performed to compare the cost of nutraceutical among the different outpatient departments. Results More than 80% of patients were found to be consuming nutraceutical on their own. The mostly prescribed nutraceutical were vitamins (40.7%), minerals (23.7%), enzymes (21.1%), proteins (8.8%), probiotics (4.2%) and herbals (2.0%). With the most common reasons for consuming nutraceutical were to maintain good health (70.0%) and healthcare professionals (57.85%) were the most approached source of information for nutraceutical. Nearly half of the patients (46.5%) had an inadequate level of knowledge whereas more than two-third (71.5%) showed a moderate positive attitude towards nutraceutical use. The average amount patients spent was NRs.575.78 [equivalent to USD 4.85] per prescription on nutraceutical alone. The maximum cost amounted to NRs 757.18 [equivalent to USD 6.43] in Orthopedics, and the minimum cost was NRs 399.03 [equivalent to USD 3.36] in Obstetrics and gynecology, respectively. There was a significant difference (p <0.001) in cost of nutraceutical prescribed between the OPD clinics. Conclusion The higher prevalence of inadequate knowledge despite moderate positive attitude towards nutraceutical among patients regarding some significant issues such as safety and interactions of nutraceutical consumption and its’ substitution for meals reflects the need to develop an educational strategy to increase general public awareness on the rational use of nutraceutical.

A study of nutraceutical prescription pattern among patients in an out-patient setting at Birat medical college teaching Hospital

“…The present study showed that out of 400 patients, majority of patients (n=197, 49.25%) had inadequate knowledge about nutraceuticals. Similar studies done on Nepal [6] found the inadequate knowledge of nutraceuticals to be 46.5%.…”

“…Regarding the attitude towards nutraceuticals, majority of patient's perceived that nutraceuticals are needed, if a person feel tired and rundown (n=300) or to prevent cancer (n=270). The study done by Shrestha et al [6] found that majority of participants perceived nutraceutical prevent chronic disease (60.5%) or even cancer (35.3%) which shows similarity in patient's perception towards prevention of cancer. Moderately positive attitude (n=271, 67.75%) of patients towards nutraceuticals can be related with both patient's knowledge and attitude towards nutraceuticals as 26% of patients perceive that reason for consuming nutraceutical was to prevent disease and the fact that majority of patients agreed that nutraceutical are needed if a person feel tired as well as rundown and further patients disbelieved towards use of nutraceutical to be a waste of money (n=165) also indicate positive attitude towards nutraceuticals.…”

“…The objectives of the study were explained to the patients before collecting data from them. Once getting the permission from the patients the data was collected and entered in data collection form [6].The obtained data was entered in IBM SPSS (International Business Machine Statistical Package of Social Science) version 16 and MS EXCEL (Microsoft Excel) 2019. Data analyzed included the result on demographic of patients (age, gender, ethnicity, religion, educational status, marital status and occupation), question related to knowledge of nutraceutical and attitude towards nutraceuticals.…”

Comparative effect of resveratrol, carnosic acid and hernandulcin on target enzymes and biochemical markers linked to carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in mice

“…substances may produce substantial improvements in human physiology (Taroncher et al 2021). Now, these natural compounds are tagged as nutraceuticals because of the beneficial effects that exert in human health (Taroncher et al 2021;Shrestha et al 2021). The molecules considered as nutraceuticals need to be extensively tested to prove their biological activity, nevertheless, one clear limiting factor is that regarded to their low-dependent accumulation in natural sources (Taroncher et al, 2021;Shrestha et al, 2021).…”

“…Now, these natural compounds are tagged as nutraceuticals because of the beneficial effects that exert in human health (Taroncher et al 2021;Shrestha et al 2021). The molecules considered as nutraceuticals need to be extensively tested to prove their biological activity, nevertheless, one clear limiting factor is that regarded to their low-dependent accumulation in natural sources (Taroncher et al, 2021;Shrestha et al, 2021). This is the particular case of resveratrol (RV), carnosic acid CA) and hernandulcin (HE) which are found in low concentrations in the natural sources in which they are biosynthesized (Villa-Ruano and Pacheco-Hernández, 2020).…”