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The Egyptian Journal of Internal Medicine
Springer
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Abstract: |
Background Since the onset of the coronavirus (COVID‑19) pandemic crisis, the supplement market has consistently
grown. Therefore, we conducted this survey during the fourth wave of the COVID‑19 pandemic to study the fre
quency and context of dietary supplement (DS) consumption (vitamins and mineral intake) and explore the consum
er’s pharmaceutical buying behaviour; and (3) to study its determinants as regards the demographics, Fatigue Severity
Scale (FSS), and healthy eating pyramids.
Methods We conducted a cross‑sectional web‑based survey on 1333 Arabic adults aged 18 years or more residing
in six Arabic‑speaking countries in May 2022, using a validated self‑administrated questionnaire. The survey‑involved
questions about sociodemographic characteristics, physical activity, FSS, healthy eating pyramid, DS consumption,
and consumers’ pharmaceutical purchasing behaviour.
Results Most participants were aged 20 to less than 35 years, and 64.6% used dietary supplements. There was a sta
tistically significant difference between supplement users and nonusers as regards consumers’ pharmaceutical buying
behaviour in terms of advertising quality, safety rules, pharmaceutical forms, and packet quality. Arabic adults con
sumed the following dietary supplements: 63.5% vitamin C, 60.1% vitamin D, 47.1% iron, and 44.4% zinc. Authorised
products (76.0%), natural contents (75.0%), and safety rules (68%), were the most common factors influencing Arabic
consumers’ pharmaceutical purchasing behavior. Multi‑logistic regression analysis showed that being female, having
a history of COVID‑19, having a positive attitude about the benefits, and being recommended for supplement use
were predictors of dietary supplement use.
Conclusion The dietary consumption of supplements is prevalent, mainly including vitamin C, vitamin D, iron, zinc,
vitamin B, and magnesium. In addition, Arabic adults are poorly adherent to healthy eating pyramids. Given the ongoing
ing COVID‑19 pandemic, Arabic health authorities should prioritize this issue to minimize the potential for misusing
dietary supplements.
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