Table 2 Knowledge and awareness of participants regarding dietary supplements use
Knowledge of DS | DS users (n = 345) (59.3%) | DS non-users (n = 237) (40.7%) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|
Do you know what the dietary supplements are? | n(%) | n(%) | Â |
 Yes | 328(95.1) | 172(72.6) |  < 0.001 |
 No | 17(4.9) | 65(27.4) | |
 I don’t know | 0 | 0 |  |
Source of informationa | |||
 Family and/or friends | 148(42.9) | 85(35.9) | 0.064 |
 Physicians, healthcare providers | 141(40.9) | 116 (48.9) | 0.054 |
 TV | 45(13.0) | 35(14.8) | 0.548 |
 Internet and/or social media | 243(70.4) | 169(71.3) | 0.936 |
 Other | 14(4.1) | 7(3.0) | 0.322 |
Awareness | |||
 Do you think the use of nutritional supplements is always safe? | |||
  Yes | 302(87.5) | 136(57.4) |  < 0.001 |
  No | 9(2.6) | 17(7.2) | |
  I don’t know | 34(9.9) | 84(35.4) | |
Do you think that dietary supplements can prevent or treat chronic diseases? | |||
 Yes | 162(47.0) | 82(34.6) | 0.001 |
 No | 109(31.6) | 74(31.2) | |
I don’t know | 74(21.4) | 81(34.2) | |
Do you think that dietary supplements can prevent or treat communicable diseases? | |||
 Yes | 172(49.9) | 77(32.5) |  < 0.001 |
 No | 109(31.6) | 79(33.3) | |
 I don’t know | 64(18.6) | 81(34.2) | |
Do you think that the dietary supplements have side effects? | |||
 Yes | 205(59.4) | 124(52.3) | 0.001 |
 No | 65(18.8) | 31(13.1) | |
 I don’t know | 75(21.7) | 82(34.6) | |