Are dietary supplements dangerous? Assessing how society perceives the usage of dietary supplements – results of the preliminary analysis of nationwide survey data.
Are dietary supplements dangerous? Assessing how society perceives the usage of dietary supplements – results of the preliminary analysis of nationwide survey data.

Summary/Abstract: Background: Dietary supplements (DSs) are concentrated sources of nutrients and/or other substances, whosepurpose is to supplement the normal diet. Their consumption in Poland has been on the rise, leading to numerousconcerns. However, current legislation does not provide any background for a relevant pharmacovigilancesystem. Therefore, little is known about their adverse effects (AEs) or patterns of use in Poland. To shed somelight on this, we conducted a nationwide survey.Aim of the study: To assess the prevalence of, and the reasons for, the use of dietary supplements in Poland vianational survey with a collection and an analyse of supposed adverse effects of dietary supplements.Material and methods: The study was conducted using an online survey based on the original questionnaire.In this report, we present the results of the analysis of the first 200 responses.Results: As many as 55.5% (111) of respondents were ‘definitely sure’ or ‘rather sure’ about DSs safety. However,70.5% (141) believed that they could have negative effects. Over 3/4 (153) of respondents used DSs themselves,and 61.0% (122) used them within last 12 months. Of those using DSs, 11.1% (17) reported diverse AEs,with GI tract irritation and mental disturbances being the most common (experienced by 35.3% (6), and 17.6%(3) of those reporting AE s, respectively).Conclusions: Respondents had mixed feelings about DS safety. Despite that, they used these products frequently.Of a note is high incidence of adverse effects experienced by DS users. This undoubtedly points to theneed for a relevant pharmacovigilance system.

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