Socio-demographic predictors and reasons for vitamin and/or mineral food supplement use in a group of outpatients in Skopje.

Background: Vitamins and/or mineral food supplements (VMS) are mono- or multi-component products prepared in different pharmaceutical forms and categorized as food supplements. Numerous researchers have investigated the epidemiological predictors of use of VMS in population. Data of this kind in our setting are limited.

Aims: This survey aimed to gain information on the prevalence of use, certain sociodemographic predictors and reasons for VMS use in a group of 256 outpatients in Skopje.

Materials And Methods: This study was designed as an open-ended, cross-sectional survey. Data on VMS use were collected by survey method with a specially designed questionnaire as an instrument for this research. Appropriate statistical tests were used to analyse the data.

Results: Data from 256 outpatients from Skopje were analysed. Of them, one hundred and five (41.02%) reported using VMS. Female outpatients (p<0.01) and participants of Macedonian ethnicity (p<0.01), with a higher educational level (p<0.01) and those having their own income (p<0.05) reported significantly higher consumption of VMS. We found a statistically significant difference between the group of users and non-users of VMS regarding smoking status (p<0.05), alcohol consumption (p<0.05) and presence of a chronic disease (p<0.01). Physicians, magazines and friends were the most common source of information on VMS while maintaining good health and prevention of disease was the most common reasons for the use of these products. Only 63% of the users had disclosed the information on taking VMS to their physicians.

Conclusion: This research provided an insight into VMS in our setting. Predictors on the use of VMS are of interest since these products contribute to total intake of vitamins and minerals in the population and they represent a source of valuable information when planning public health activities.