Table 3 Knowledge and awareness of participants regarding dietary supplement use based on age
Knowledge of DS | 18–30 years old (n = 385) |  > 30 years old (n = 197) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|
Do you know what dietary supplements are? | n(%) | n(%) | Â |
 Yes | 339(88.1) | 161(81.7) | 0.035 |
 No | 46(11.9) | 36(18.3) | |
I don’t know | 0 | 0 | |
Source of informationa | |||
 Family and/or friends | 155(40.3) | 78(39.6) | 0.887 |
Physicians, healthcare providers | 153(39.7) | 104(52.8) | 0.005 |
 TV | 52(13.5) | 28(14.2) | 0.989 |
 Internet and/or Social Media | 277(71.9) | 135(68.5) | 0.330 |
 Other | 10(2.6) | 11(5.6) | 0.055 |
Awareness | |||
 Do you think the use of nutritional supplements is always safe? | |||
  Yes | 295(76.6) | 143(72.6) | 0.19 |
  No | 13(3.4) | 13(6.6) | |
  I don’t know | 77(20.0) | 41(20.8) | |
Do you think that dietary supplements can prevent or treat chronic diseases? | |||
 Yes | 148(38.4) | 96(48.7) | 0.32 |
 No | 132(34.3) | 51(25.9) | |
 I don’t know | 105(27.3) | 50(25.4) | |
Do you think that dietary supplements can prevent or treat communicable diseases? | |||
 Yes | 158(41.0) | 91(46.2) | 0.02 |
 No | 139(36.1) | 49(24.9) | |
 I don’t know | 88(22.9) | 57(28.9) | |
Do you think that the dietary supplements have side effects? | |||
 Yes | 241(62.6) | 88(44.7) |  < 0.001 |
No | 60(15.6) | 36(18.3) | |
I don’t know | 84(21.8) | 73(37.1) | |