Table 3.
Associations between physical and mental health 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 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Users (n 2169) | Non-users (n 11 029) | AOR* | 95 % CI | P | Users (n 3068) | Non-users (n 10 128) | AOR* | 95 % CI | P | Users (n 980) | Non-users (n 12 201) | AOR* | 95 % CI | P | |
| Recent health symptoms (%) | |||||||||||||||
| Headaches | 40·5 | 49·6 | 0·80 | 0·73, 0·87 | <0·001 | 51·8 | 46·7 | 1·32 | 1·23, 1·43 | <0·001 | 53·2 | 47·5 | 1·18 | 1·05, 1·33 | 0·006 |
| Sleeping difficulties | 53·7 | 56·0 | 1·10 | 1·00, 1·20 | 0·05 | 61·0 | 53·9 | 1·46 | 1·35, 1·58 | <0·001 | 67·2 | 54·7 | 1·73 | 1·53, 1·96 | <0·001 |
| Constipation | 7·7 | 10·5 | 1·02 | 0·86, 1·21 | 0·83 | 10·5 | 9·8 | 1·30 | 1·14, 1·47 | <0·001 | 13·1 | 9·7 | 1·37 | 1·14, 1·63 | <0·001 |
| Flatulence or burping | 23·9 | 30·7 | 0·87 | 0·79, 0·97 | 0·01 | 31·5 | 28·8 | 1·35 | 1·24, 1·47 | <0·001 | 33·3 | 29·1 | 1·26 | 1·11, 1·43 | <0·001 |
| Stomach cramps | 12·6 | 14·0 | 1·01 | 0·88, 1·16 | 0·88 | 15·9 | 13·1 | 1·37 | 1·23, 1·53 | <0·001 | 18·4 | 13·4 | 1·37 | 1·17, 1·61 | <0·001 |
| Diarrhoea | 17·9 | 20·8 | 0·88 | 0·78, 0·99 | 0·04 | 23·0 | 19·4 | 1·31 | 1·20, 1·44 | <0·001 | 25·6 | 19·9 | 1·39 | 1·22, 1·59 | <0·001 |
| Indigestion | 13·3 | 18·6 | 0·85 | 0·74, 0·97 | 0·01 | 19·0 | 17·3 | 1·34 | 1·21, 1·48 | <0·001 | 21·2 | 17·4 | 1·30 | 1·12, 1·51 | <0·001 |
| Nausea | 6·0 | 7·6 | 0·91 | 0·75, 1·10 | 0·34 | 8·9 | 6·8 | 1·48 | 1·28, 1·71 | <0·001 | 9·5 | 7·1 | 1·17 | 0·95, 1·44 | 0·14 |
| Vomiting | 3·2 | 3·6 | 0·92 | 0·71, 1·19 | 0·29 | 4·2 | 3·2 | 1·39 | 1·14, 1·70 | 0·001 | 4·8 | 3·4 | 1·23 | 0·92, 1·64 | 0·17 |
| Total number of health symptoms, mean† | 1·8 | 2·1 | 0·95 | 0·90, 1·01 | 0·0824 | 2·2 | 1·9 | 1·20 | 1·16, 1·25 | <0·001 | 2·4 | 2·0 | 1·19 | 1·12, 1·27 | <0·001 |
| sd | 1·8 | 1·9 | 2·0 | 1·9 | 2·1 | 1·9 | |||||||||
| Health status | |||||||||||||||
| Physical health, mean‡ | 53·1 | 51·2 | 1·1 | 0·8, 1·5 | <0·001 | 51·6 | 51·5 | −0·3 | −0·7, −0·01 | 0·05 | 49·9 | 51·7 | −1·6 | −2·2, −1·1 | <0·001 |
| sd | 7·4 | 8·4 | 8·4 | 8·2 | 9·2 | 8·2 | |||||||||
| Mental health, mean§ | 49·7 | 49·3 | −0·01 | −0·5, 0·5 | 0·96 | 48·1 | 49·7 | −1·7 | −2·1, −1·3 | <0·001 | 46·9 | 49·5 | −2·2 | −2·9, −1·6 | <0·001 |
| sd | 10·0 | 10·2 | 10·7 | 10·0 | 10·9 | 10·1 | |||||||||
| Major depressive syndrome (%) | 2·4 | 3·9 | 0·79 | 0·57, 1·10 | 0·16 | 4·2 | 3·4 | 1·33 | 1·06, 1·66 | 0·01 | 6·3 | 3·4 | 1·91 | 1·45, 2·53 | <0·001 |
AOR, adjusted odds ratio.
*
Binary logistic regression models comparing users v. non-users, adjusting for sex, age group, service, rank, service status, main role during most recent deployment, current smoking status (bodybuilding and energy supplements only) and consumption of caffeine-containing drinks (bodybuilding and weight-loss supplements only).
†
Unweighted means and sd.
‡
Unweighted means and sd of Short Form-12 Health Survey Physical Component Score.
§
Unweighted means and sd of Short Form-12 Health Survey Mental Component Score.