title: The use of dietary supplement among soldiers from the macedonian special operations regiment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence and type of dietary supplement used, reasons for use, and sources of supplement information among Macedonian elite Soldiers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Anonymous self-reported questionnaires containing questions about demographic characteristics and dietary supplementation practices were distributed to 134 Soldiers, of whom 80 were recruited from the Ranger Battalion (R) and 54 from the Special Force Battalion (SF).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Soldiers completed and returned 132 questionnaires. Overall, 66.6% of the Soldiers, including 70.3% of SF and 64.1% of R, reported using supplements within the 3 months before the survey. On average, each of these Soldiers used 3.7 ? 2.9 supplements. The most commonly used supplements were multivitamins (50.0%) and vitamin C (47.7%). The most frequently cited reason for using supplements was to improve general health (51.6%). Primary sources of supplement information were friends (42.0%) and books/magazines (40.9%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dietary supplement use was found to be common and widespread among this military subpopulation. Given this, and the fact that the majority of the Soldiers do not receive accurate information about supplements, educational intervention regarding the safety and efficacy of these products is needed if unnecessary or harmful supplementation practices are to be prevented.
authors.forename: Metodija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kjertakov
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hristovski
authors.forename: Muhamet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Racaj
mesh_terms: D019587:Dietary Supplements; D006801:Humans; D008889:Military Personnel; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014815:Vitamins
chemical_list: D014815:Vitamins