Table 1.
Association of demographic and health-related variables with the use of dietary supplements (DS)
| Variables | Categories | Dietary supplement | χ 2 | P-value | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (n 702) | DS (-) = 119 | DS (+) = 583 | |||||||
| n | % | n | % | n | % | ||||
| Age | 10 to 14 | 128 | 18·2 | 27 | 21·1 | 101 | 78·9 | 1·91 | 0·167 |
| 15 to 19 | 574 | 81·8 | 92 | 16·0 | 482 | 84·0 | |||
| Gender | Male | 322 | 45·9 | 52 | 16·1 | 270 | 83·9 | 0·27 | 0·602 |
| Female | 380 | 54·1 | 67 | 17·6 | 313 | 82·4 | |||
| Education | High school | 664 | 94·6 | 107 | 16·1 | 557 | 83·9 | 6·11 | 0·013 |
| College | 38 | 5·4 | 12 | 31·6 | 26 | 68·4 | |||
| Mother’s education | No formal education | 25 | 3·6 | 7 | 28·0 | 18 | 72·0 | 6·80 | 0·147 |
| Primary school | 222 | 31·6 | 29 | 13·1 | 193 | 86·9 | |||
| Secondary school | 317 | 45·2 | 60 | 18·9 | 257 | 81·1 | |||
| Higher secondary school | 128 | 18·2 | 20 | 15·6 | 108 | 84·4 | |||
| Honor’s and above | 10 | 1·4 | 3 | 30·0 | 7 | 70·0 | |||
| Family income (BDT) | Low (<15 000) | 429 | 61·1 | 77 | 17·9 | 352 | 82·1 | 1·63 | 0·443 |
| Middle (15 000–30 000) | 234 | 33·3 | 34 | 14·5 | 200 | 85·5 | |||
| High (>30 000) | 39 | 5·6 | 8 | 20·5 | 31 | 79·5 | |||
| Religion | Muslim | 604 | 86·0 | 99 | 16·4 | 505 | 83·6 | 0·97 | 0·326 |
| Hindu | 98 | 14·0 | 20 | 20·4 | 78 | 79·6 | |||
| Residence | Urban | 78 | 11·1 | 11 | 14·1 | 67 | 85·9 | 0·51 | 0·477 |
| Rural | 624 | 88·9 | 108 | 17·3 | 516 | 82·7 | |||
| Number of siblings | 1 to 2 | 301 | 42·9 | 53 | 17·6 | 248 | 82·4 | 25·94 | <0·001 |
| 3 to 5 | 377 | 53·7 | 53 | 14·1 | 324 | 85·9 | |||
| More than 5 | 24 | 3·4 | 13 | 54·2 | 11 | 45·8 | |||
| Self-reported health status | Poor or fair | 20 | 2·8 | 8 | 40·0 | 12 | 60·0 | 24·63 | <0·001 |
| Good | 577 | 82·2 | 90 | 15·6 | 487 | 84·4 | |||
| Very good | 88 | 12·5 | 12 | 13·6 | 76 | 86·4 | |||
| Excellent | 17 | 2·4 | 9 | 52·9 | 8 | 47·1 | |||
| Physical ability | Low | 24 | 3·4 | 8 | 33·3 | 16 | 66·7 | 5·96 | 0·051 |
| Moderate | 638 | 90·9 | 107 | 16·8 | 531 | 83·2 | |||
| High | 40 | 5·7 | 4 | 10·0 | 36 | 90·0 | |||
| Chronic diseases | No | 623 | 88·7 | 86 | 13·8 | 537 | 86·2 | 38·96 | <0·001 |
| Yes | 79 | 11·3 | 33 | 41·8 | 46 | 58·2 | |||
| Number of meals/d | ≤3 | 413 | 58·8 | 87 | 21·1 | 326 | 78·9 | 12·06 | 0·002 |
| Four | 261 | 37·2 | 29 | 11·1 | 232 | 88·9 | |||
| ≥5 | 28 | 4·0 | 3 | 10·7 | 25 | 89·3 | |||
| DS are good for health | No | 30 | 4·3 | 16 | 53·3 | 14 | 46·7 | 137·53 | <0·001 |
| Yes | 476 | 67·8 | 27 | 5·7 | 449 | 94·3 | |||
| I do not know | 196 | 27·9 | 76 | 38·8 | 120 | 61·2 | |||
| Encourage the use of DS | Yes, I always encourage | 239 | 34·0 | 17 | 7·1 | 222 | 92·9 | 163·59 | <0·001 |
| Yes, only on doctor’s recommendation | 283 | 40·3 | 16 | 5·7 | 267 | 94·3 | |||
| Not at all | 180 | 25·6 | 86 | 47·8 | 94 | 52·2 | |||
| Knowledge sources | Healthcare provider | 155 | 22·1 | 14 | 9·0 | 141 | 91·0 | 11·06 | 0·050 |
| Internet | 99 | 14·1 | 21 | 21·2 | 78 | 78·8 | |||
| Professional literature | 41 | 5·8 | 6 | 14·6 | 35 | 85·4 | |||
| Friends, family members and relatives | 241 | 34·3 | 43 | 17·8 | 198 | 82·2 | |||
| Social media or seminar | 75 | 10·7 | 14 | 18·7 | 61 | 81·3 | |||
| Book | 91 | 13·0 | 21 | 23·1 | 70 | 76·9 | |||
Note: (15 000 BDT = 157·90 US $). DS (−) = Dietary supplement non-users, and DS (+) = Dietary supplement users.