The Prevalence of Dietary Supplement Use for the Purpose of COVID-19 Prevention in Japan

Chiba, Tsuyoshi; Tanemura, Nanae

doi:10.3390/nu14153215

“…Forty percent of the respondents did not consult with healthcare professionals before consuming DS for more than 3 months. This practice was also found before and during the pandemic, in parallel with other similar studies, such as in 1579 US citizens ( Blendon et al , 2013 ), 105 athletes in Saudi Arabia ( Aljaloud & Ibrahim, 2013 ), 651 students in Saudi Arabia ( Almegewly et al , 2022 ) and 48,925 Japanese adults ( Chiba & Tanemura, 2022 ). This consumption was significantly associated with middle age, higher education, higher economic status, marital status, receiving a diagnosis of COVID-19 and employment status.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Practice and knowledge of dietary supplement consumption among Indonesian adults post-delta wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

d'Arqom¹,

Nasution²,

Kadir³

et al. 2023

F1000Res

1

0

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Background: Increasing dietary supplement (DS) consumption was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, including during the post-Delta wave period. This study aimed to measure the practice of DS consumption and respondents’ knowledge of DS. Methods: An internet-based survey was distributed from October-December 2021 and obtained 541 valid and completed responses. Descriptive analysis was performed to present the practice of DS consumption, including frequency, duration, aim, preferable dosage form etc. Level of knowledge on DS principles, side effects and regulation were also measured. Inferential analyses were conducted to determine the predictors of the respondents’ DS practice and level of knowledge. Results: Data from 541 valid responses showed that 77.63% of respondents consumed DS in the last 3 months, with only 59.52% reporting also consuming DS before the COVID-19 pandemic. One half of the respondents had good knowledge about DS; however, some knowledge regarding side effects and possible drug-supplement interaction needed improvement. Their DS consumption practice was affected by their economic status and history of contracting COVID-19. Nevertheless, the level of knowledge was not affected by the sociodemographic factors and DS supplement experience. Conclusions: Taken together, the practice of self-consumption of DS in Indonesia is increasing; hence, knowledge of DS is necessary to avoid detrimental effects that might occur in the future. Increasing access to information on better labelling and educating consumers about DS are important actions to consider.

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“…Forty percent of the respondents did not consult with healthcare professionals before consuming DS for more than 3 months. This practice was also found before and during the pandemic, in parallel with other similar studies, such as in 1579 US citizens (Blendon et al, 2013), 105 athletes in Saudi Arabia (Aljaloud & Ibrahim, 2013), 651 students in Saudi Arabia (Almegewly et al, 2022) and 48,925 Japanese adults (Chiba & Tanemura, 2022). This consumption was significantly associated with middle age, higher education, higher economic status, marital status, receiving a diagnosis of COVID-19 and employment status.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Practice and knowledge of dietary supplement consumption among Indonesian adults post-delta wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

d'Arqom

¹

,

Nasution²,

Kadir³

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Increasing dietary supplement (DS) consumption was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, including during the post-Delta wave period. This study aimed to measure the practice of DS consumption and respondents’ knowledge of DS. Methods: An internet-based survey was distributed from October-December 2021 and obtained 541 valid and completed responses. Descriptive analysis was performed to present the practice of DS consumption, including frequency, duration, aim, preferable dosage form etc. Level of knowledge on DS principles, side effects and regulation were also measured. Inferential analyses were conducted to determine the predictors of the respondents’ DS practice and level of knowledge. Results: Data from 541 valid responses showed that 77.63% of respondents consumed DS in the last 3 months, with only 59.52% reporting also consuming DS before the COVID-19 pandemic. One half of the respondents had good knowledge about DS; however, some knowledge regarding side effects and possible drug-supplement interaction needed improvement. Their DS consumption practice was affected by their economic status and history of contracting COVID-19. Nevertheless, the level of knowledge was not affected by the sociodemographic factors and DS supplement experience. Conclusions: Taken together, the practice of self-consumption of DS in Indonesia is increasing; hence, knowledge of DS is necessary to avoid detrimental effects that might occur in the future. Increasing access to information on better labelling and educating consumers about DS are important actions to consider.

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“…On the other hand, “Information for consumers related to COVID-19” on HFNet provides information on dietary supplements and materials that claim to prevent coronavirus infection without any scientific grounding. The awareness of this site was about 33% among dietary supplement users [ 18 ]. This may be due to the fact that the site was mentioned several times in the media and ranks highly in Japanese Google searches for the keywords “new corona virus” and “dietary supplement”.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After the spread of COVID-19, many dietary supplements on the market claim to have anti-COVID-19 effects without supporting scientific evidence. A total of 8.3% of Japanese people use dietary supplements for the prevention of COVID-19 [ 18 ], and this usage is even higher in other countries [ 19 ]. Nirmatrelvir, a COVID-19 medicine, is metabolized by CYP3A4.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in the Perception of Dietary Supplements between Dietary Supplement/Medicine Users and Non-Users

Chiba¹,

Tanemura²

2022

Nutrients

Self Cite

8

0

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Some patients use dietary supplements and medicines concomitantly, with an inappropriate perception of their safety and efficacy. To clarify the perception between dietary supplement and medicine users and non-users, we conducted an internet survey. In this survey, 38.9% of participants used dietary supplements, 32.6% used prescription medicines, and 14.7% used dietary supplements and prescription medicines concomitantly. Then, we conducted a further survey on four groups, dietary supplement and prescription medicine users, dietary supplement only users, prescription medicine only users, and non-users (500 each). Dietary supplement users had favorable outcomes in terms of both the safety and efficacy of dietary supplements compared to dietary supplement non-users. This perception of dietary supplements was independent from medicine use. The awareness of the Health Food Network consumer navigation site, which provides information about dietary supplements for consumers, was the highest among dietary supplement and prescription medicine users, but it was still low (2.2%). In conclusion, consumers who use dietary supplement and prescription medicine concomitantly have favorable outcomes for their safety and efficacy and a low awareness of their interaction. There is a need to provide information, especially regarding the risk of interaction, that takes into account the consumer’s situation.

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The Prevalence of Dietary Supplement Use for the Purpose of COVID-19 Prevention in Japan

Cited by 11 publications

References 48 publications

Practice and knowledge of dietary supplement consumption among Indonesian adults post-delta wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

Practice and knowledge of dietary supplement consumption among Indonesian adults post-delta wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

Practice and knowledge of dietary supplement consumption among Indonesian adults post-delta wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

Differences in the Perception of Dietary Supplements between Dietary Supplement/Medicine Users and Non-Users

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