The Use of Nutritional Supplement in Romanian Patients – Attitudes and Beliefs

Abstract

Taking into account that an increasing number of patients ask for nutritional supplement' to support their chronic treatment, consisting into products made of plants or vitamins and minerals and starting from the premise that they do not induce side effects, so their administration is well tolerated, this paper aims to assess: the factors that make the patient use nutritional supplements, the main categories of nutritional supplements that are used by the patient, the patients knowledge about the legislative regulations on food supplements and the patients' trust in the efficacy and safety of these products. The population included in the study consisted of 372 patients living in the urban area of Bucharest, Romania, who answered a questionnaire related to the subject presented previously, taking into account variables such as age, gender, income level, educational level. Following the responses obtained, we report that the use of nutritional supplements faces many problems such as the abuse of these products without the recommendation of a health specialist (physician or pharmacist), the possibility of online purchase from unsafe sources, the lack of information regarding the indications of the food supplement, efficacy and safety of these products, the poorly known legislative regulations of food supplements. RezumatExistă un număr din ce în ce mai mare de pacienți care cer suplimente nutriționale pentru a sprijini tratamentul lor cronic, constând în produse obținute din plante sau suplimente cu vitamine și minerale, plecând de la premisa că nu provoacă efecte secundare și tratamentul cu acestea este bine tolerat. Lucrarea are scopul de a evalua factorii care determină pacienții să utilizeze suplimente nutriționale, principalele categorii de suplimente alimentare care sunt utilizate de pacient, cunoștințele pacienților cu privire la reglementările legislative privind suplimentele alimentare și încrederea pacienților în eficacitatea și siguranța acestor produse. Studiul a inclus 372 pacienți care trăiesc în mediul urban din București, care au răspuns la un chestionar referitor la subiectul prezentat anterior, luând în considerare variabile precum vârsta, sexul, nivelul veniturilor, nivelul de educație. În urma răspunsurilor primite, utilizarea suplimentulelor nutriționale se confruntă cu multe probleme, cum ar fi consumul acestor produse fără recomandarea unui medic specialist (medic sau farmacist), posibilitatea achiziționării online din surse nesigure, lipsa informațiilor privind indicațiile suplimentului alimentar, eficacitatea și siguranța acestor produse, reglementările legislative puțin cunoscute ale suplimentelor alimentare.

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