The Association between socio-demographic factors and comsumption of vitamins/mineral supplements in Chulalongkorn University supporting staff

Abstract

This research is aimed to measure the association between socio-demographic factors and vitamin or mineral supplement consumption among Chulalongkorn University Supporting staff members. Data collection process was done by random sampling, but based on structured random sampling. The total number of supporting staff members at Chulalongkorn was tallied and the sample size was calculated based on the actual percentage contribution of each faculty to the total population size of supporting staff members. A total of 324 supporting staff members, including males and females took part in the study with an age range of 21-50 years old. A structured questionnaire, which was validated and tested for reliability included socio-demographic factors, attitude and practice of vitamins or mineral supplements, was used as one of the main tools of the questionnaire. The majority of the study population consists of females, which constituted 66.7 percent and males (33.3 percent).Most of the study population was well educated and had a bachelor degree in any related field (63.9 percent). About forty percent of the study population had an income range of 10,000-29,000 baht (322-967 US Dollars). The majority of the study population perceived themselves as “Fairly healthy (43.2%)”, although only 46.9 % of the studied population exercised on a regular basis. The results of the studied showed that the mean knowledge level score of the study sample for consumers of vitamin or mineral supplement was 9.47/20, whereas for the non-consumers of vitamin or mineral supplement the mean score was 8.70/20. The attitude section of the structured questionnaire overall mean score for the studied population was 3.30, the supporting staff at Chulalongkorn University “somewhat agreed” with vitamin or mineral supplements. Out of the 324 supporting staff members sampled, 106 of them consumed vitamins or mineral supplements (32.7 %). There was a high correlation between the attitude of consumers and non-consumers of vitamins or mineral supplements ( p=0.047). Our study find out that as the education level of the supporting staff increased the more likely were they to consume vitamins or mineral supplements ( p=0.044). Although there was no association between income and vitamins or mineral supplement consumption in the studied population size( p= 0.423).In conclusion, there was no association between knowledge level of consumers and non-consumers but there is an association between the attitude of consumers and non-consumers. The recommendation of this study is to educate the public about vitamin or mineral supplement advantage and disadvantages, so that there is a better understanding.