Description
Background: Globally, there is a rise in dietary supplement use and is considered common in the developed countries with estimated use of about 40% among adult outpatients in these countries. The key documented usage of dietary supplements in low income countries is on those specific supplements which are routinely recommended to be used under close supervision of healthcare worker with minimal literature on the other dietary supplements. Dietary supplementation especially in illness is highly debated since toxic effects of excessive intake have been identified for some of them especially when their use is not monitored.
Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of dietary supplements and their correlates of use among adult outpatients aged 18 to 65 years seeking medical services in Kericho County Referral Hospital.
Methodology: It was designed as an institutionalized cross sectional survey and simple random sampling was used to select 237 study participants. Researcher administered Structured questionnaire was used
Data Analysis: Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.
Results: The overall prevalence of dietary supplements use was 42% with 58% being non-prescribed by a healthcare worker. High prevalence of dietary supplements use was reported among respondents who were females (55.8%), aged below 35 years (65.5%), tertiary highest level of education (51.9%), farmers (51.9%), respondents living in rural areas ( 47.4%) and among the widowed respondents (55.6%). High prevalence of dietary supplements use was also noted among the respondents who were exercising (68.9%),Obese 1(82.8%) and underweight (81.2%).The variables that were positively correlated with the use of dietary supplements were were gender (male), presence of non-communicable disease and engagement in at least moderate physical activity (p<0.05 and adjusted O.R>1).
Recommendation:Patient-centered interventions need to be enhanced to ensure safety and relevance in the use of dietary supplements especially in illness.
| Keywords | Dietary supplements, Prevalence, Adult, Patient, Correlates |
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