Table 2.
Associations between general demographic, service and lifestyle factors and use of dietary supplements by current and ex-serving Australian Defence Force personnel (n 14 032) who deployed to the Middle East between 2001 and 2009
| Bodybuilding supplement use | Energy supplement use | Weight-loss supplement use | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total* | % User† | AOR‡ | 95 % CI | P | Total* | % User† | AOR§ | 95 % CI | P | Total* | % User† | AOR║ | 95 % CI | P | |
| Overall | 13 308 | 17·5 | – | – | 13 305 | 24·5 | – | – | 13 290 | 7·6 | – | – | |||
| Sex | |||||||||||||||
| Male | 11 667 | 19·0 | 3·67 | 3·03, 4·45 | <0·001 | 11 665 | 25·0 | 1·23 | 1·09, 1·39 | 0·001 | 11 646 | 7·0 | 0·51 | 0·43, 0·59 | <0·001 |
| Female | 1641 | 6·3 | Ref. | 1640 | 20·7 | Ref. | 1644 | 12·0 | Ref. | – | |||||
| Age group (years) | |||||||||||||||
| 18–29 | 3002 | 34·6 | 7·65 | 6·67, 8·76 | <0·001 | 2995 | 36·4 | 2·63 | 2·37, 2·92 | <0·001 | 2997 | 9·6 | 1·41 | 1·20, 1·67 | <0·001 |
| 30–39 | 5385 | 17·2 | 3·29 | 2·91, 3·72 | <0·001 | 5385 | 25·6 | 1·86 | 1·70, 2·04 | <0·001 | 5377 | 7·8 | 1·18 | 1·03, 1·36 | 0·02 |
| ≥40 | 4921 | 5·8 | Ref. | – | 4925 | 14·7 | Ref. | 4916 | 5·8 | Ref. | – | ||||
| Service | |||||||||||||||
| Army | 6214 | 22·3 | 1·27 | 1·14, 1·42 | <0·001 | 6212 | 27·3 | 1·12 | 1·03, 1·23 | 0·01 | 6211 | 8·2 | 1·51 | 1·29, 1·75 | <0·001 |
| Navy | 2987 | 13·8 | 0·80 | 0·68, 0·93 | 0·004 | 2985 | 24·0 | 0·98 | 0·87, 1·10 | 0·69 | 2981 | 9·2 | 1·57 | 1·30, 1·88 | <0·001 |
| Air Force | 4107 | 12·2 | Ref. | 4108 | 19·7 | Ref. | 4098 | 5·0 | Ref. | – | |||||
| Rank | |||||||||||||||
| Commissioned officer | 3985 | 11·1 | Ref. | – | 3981 | 16·7 | Ref. | – | 3972 | 4·8 | Ref. | – | |||
| Non-commissioned officer | 7881 | 17·1 | 1·34 | 1·21, 1·48 | <0·001 | 7886 | 24·8 | 1·40 | 1·28, 1·52 | <0·001 | 7879 | 8·4 | 1·65 | 1·44, 1·89 | <0·001 |
| Lower ranks | 1442 | 29·1 | 1·39 | 1·19, 1·63 | <0·001 | 1438 | 35·5 | 1·59 | 1·38, 1·83 | <0·001 | 1439 | 8·9 | 1·34 | 1·06, 1·68 | 0·01 |
| Service status | |||||||||||||||
| Active regular | 9583 | 18·5 | 1·39 | 1·10, 1·76 | 0·006 | 9581 | 24·6 | 0·85 | 0·72, 1·02 | 0·08 | 9574 | 8·0 | 1·31 | 0·97, 1·76 | 0·08 |
| Active reserve | 1613 | 14·5 | 1·32 | 1·01, 1·76 | 0·04 | 1612 | 22·3 | 0·94 | 0·77, 1·15 | 0·54 | 1605 | 7·1 | 1·21 | 0·87, 1·69 | 0·26 |
| Inactive reserve | 1318 | 18·0 | 1·31 | 1·01, 1·71 | 0·05 | 1321 | 23·6 | 0·82 | 0·66, 1·00 | 0·05 | 1319 | 6·5 | 1·06 | 0·75, 1·50 | 0·76 |
| Ex-serving | 794 | 14·2 | Ref. | – | 791 | 27·7 | Ref. | – | 792 | 6·9 | Ref. | – | |||
| Main role on deployment | |||||||||||||||
| Combat | 3739 | 25·7 | 1·84 | 1·62, 2·10 | <0·001 | 3736 | 31·5 | 1·31 | 1·18, 1·46 | <0·001 | 3731 | 9·6 | 1·53 | 1·29, 1·82 | <0·001 |
| Combat support | 2384 | 14·5 | 1·22 | 1·06, 1·40 | 0·007 | 2381 | 19·6 | 0·85 | 0·75, 0·95 | 0·005 | 2383 | 6·2 | 1·04 | 0·86, 1·25 | 0·69 |
| Medical/welfare | 495 | 12·4 | 1·73 | 1·33, 2·25 | <0·001 | 495 | 16·6 | 0·89 | 0·72, 1·12 | 0·32 | 494 | 7·3 | 1·22 | 0·89, 1·67 | 0·22 |
| Air crew | 709 | 9·0 | 0·89 | 0·71, 1·13 | 0·34 | 709 | 18·7 | 0·98 | 0·83, 1·17 | 0·85 | 708 | 3·7 | 0·87 | 0·63, 1·20 | 0·39 |
| Maritime operations | 304 | 10·1 | 1·17 | 0·80, 1·73 | 0·42 | 304 | 20·3 | 0·93 | 0·70, 1·24 | 0·61 | 304 | 8·3 | 1·20 | 0·79, 1·81 | 0·39 |
| Logistics | 2412 | 13·5 | Ref. | – | 2419 | 23·5 | Ref. | – | 2415 | 6·2 | Ref. | – | |||
| Administration | 228 | 8·2 | 0·92 | 0·62, 1·36 | 0·66 | 227 | 17·3 | 0·78 | 0·59, 1·04 | 0·09 | 228 | 8·3 | 1·11 | 0·76, 1·62 | 0·6 |
| Other roles | 1296 | 11·4 | 1·44 | 1·20, 1·72 | <0·001 | 1297 | 17·9 | 1·00 | 0·87, 1·16 | 0·96 | 1294 | 5·8 | 1·16 | 0·92, 1·47 | 0·21 |
| Smoking history | |||||||||||||||
| Current | 3535 | 17·4 | 0·81 | 0·73, 0·90 | <0·001 | 3534 | 28·6 | 1·17 | 1·07, 1·27 | <0·001 | 3536 | 8·5 | 1·14 | 0·97, 1·34 | 0·1 |
| Ex-smoker | 2345 | 15·0 | 1·12 | 0·98, 1·27 | 0·09 | 2345 | 20·8 | 0·97 | 0·87, 1·08 | 0·54 | 2341 | 7·3 | 1·11 | 0·96, 1·28 | 0·16 |
| Never smoked | 7154 | 18·5 | Ref. | – | 7152 | 23·6 | Ref. | 7141 | 7·2 | Ref. | – | ||||
| Intake of caffeine-containing drinks | |||||||||||||||
| None | 1529 | 23·0 | Ref. | 1528 | 20·7 | Ref. | 1526 | 7·9 | Ref. | – | |||||
| 1–2/d | 6374 | 20·1 | 0·99 | 0·86, 1·13 | 0·85 | 6372 | 26·5 | 1·62 | 1·42, 1·86 | <0·001 | 6361 | 7·5 | 1·05 | 0·87, 1·27 | 0·61 |
| 3–5/d | 4557 | 12·7 | 0·77 | 0·67, 0·90 | 0·001 | 4557 | 22·6 | 1·63 | 1·41, 1·88 | <0·001 | 4558 | 7·1 | 1·11 | 0·91, 1·37 | 0·3 |
| ≥6/d | 813 | 13·8 | 0·90 | 0·71, 1·13 | 0·34 | 814 | 26·2 | 1·83 | 1·50, 2·22 | <0·001 | 812 | 10·1 | 1·49 | 1·13, 1·95 | 0·004 |
AOR, adjusted odds ratio; ref., reference category.
Unweighted totals; totals may not add up due to missing responses.
Percentages weighted for non-response; percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding.
Adjusted binary logistic regression models include all demographic, service and lifestyle variables listed in the table.
Adjusted binary logistic regression models include the variable of interest adjusted for the confounding effects of gender, age group, service, rank, smoking history at survey completion and main role on deployment.
Adjusted binary logistic regression models include the variable of interest adjusted for the confounding effects of gender, age group, service, rank, caffeine use at survey completion and main role on deployment.