Dietary supplement usage and awareness level of the patients who applied to Family Medicine Outpatient Clinic of Akdeniz University Hospital

In our study we aimed to determine the rate of dietary supplement use in individuals aged 18 years and over; demographic characteristics of supplement users; attitudes and behaviors of individuals who are using dietary supplements; and determine the participants' knowledge and awareness about dietary supplements. This cross-sectional and descriptive study was carried out by applying a face-to-face questionnaire to patients aged 18 years or older who applied to the Family Medicine outpatient clinics of Akdeniz University Hospital. SPSS 23.0 program was used to analyze the data obtained from the study. In the analysis of categorical data, Fisher's Exact Test (Fisher's Exact Test) and Pearson Chi-Square Test were used if the percentage of cells where the expected value was less than 5 was greater than 20%. p <0.05 was considered statistically significant. 280 people participated in the study. %59,6 of the participants were female and %40,4 were male. %60,7 of the participants were 18-40 years old, %36,4 were 41-65 years and %2,9 were 65 years and over. Among the participants, the use of supplements was found to be %30,7. Among the individuals using dietary supplements, the most common reasons for use were determined as "prescribing by doctor "(%45,3), "to improve and maintain health" (%30,2) and "for fatigue "(%29,1). Among the participants, the most commonly used dietary supplements were vitamin D (%40,7), MVM (%32,6), vitamin B12 (%32,6), fish oil / omega 3 (%26,7) and iron (%23,6). There was a significant relationship between supplement usage and having chronic disease (p <0.05). %67,4 of individuals were using dietary supplements by recommandation of physicians. %79,1 of individuals obtained the dietary supplement from the pharmacy. We found that the use of dietary supplements was considerable. It has been determined that individuals who are using dietary supplements generally prefer to use supplements with knowledge of their physicians. Therefore; it is important for family physicians, who are the first point of contact with the health services of the patients, to be knowledgeable and conscious about this issue. Keywords: dietary supplements, supplement use, primary care