Differences in socio-demographic, health-related and psychological factors between nutritional supplement users and non-users among fitness club participants in Tehran, Iran

摘要

Nutritional supplement (NS) use has increased among the general population, athletes and fitness club participants, and has become a widespread and acceptable behavior. The objective of this study was to determine the differences in socio-demographic, health-related and psychological factors between NS users and non-users. A case control study design was used, whereby participants included 147 NS users (cases) and 147 non-users (controls) aged 18 years old and above who exercised at least three days/week in twenty four fitness clubs in Tehran. A self-administered pre-tested and validated questionnaire was used to collect data. The results showed that on average NS users were younger (29.8 ± 9.5 years) than non-users (35.5 ± 12.2 years). Logistic regression analysis showed that NS use was significantly associated with moderate or high physical activity level (PAL), smoking, gender, eating attitude and age. In conclusion, NS users were more likely to be female, younger, smokers, to have moderate or high PAL and to be prone to eating disorders compared to non-users.