School of Public Health, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education of Warsaw, 01-826 Warsaw, Poland.
Center for Sexology and Pediatric, Adolescent Gynecology, Division of Gynecology, Department of Perinatology and Gynecology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-535 Poznan, Poland.
Nutrients. 2024 Oct 29;16(21):3691. doi: 10.3390/nu16213691.
The growing popularity of dietary supplements in Poland raises the need to verify the knowledge and practices of healthcare workers who have a key role in recommending their use. Understanding these issues is important to ensure patient safety and the correct use of dietary supplements. Therefore, the aim of the study was to examine the level of knowledge, practices, and sources of information on dietary supplements among various professional groups of healthcare workers.
The study conducted from September 2023 to June 2024 involved 743 healthcare professionals, including doctors, pharmacists, and nurses. Data were collected online using an original questionnaire. The questionnaire was placed in portals associated with target groups.
A total of 73.49% of respondents declared knowledge of dietary supplements. The most common source of information was scientific articles (42.8%), and only 7.00% of respondents used official sources such as the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate. Advertisements had a smaller impact on doctors ( < 0.001), with 46.97% of respondents stating that they did not pay attention to them. In addition, 84.52% of respondents considered the composition of the dietary supplement to be a key factor in their recommendation.
Knowledge of dietary supplements among healthcare professionals varies, particularly between different professional groups. The results indicate a need for further education and standardization of information to ensure safe and responsible recommendation of supplements to consumers.
波兰膳食补充剂的日益普及使得有必要验证医疗保健工作者的知识和实践，因为他们在推荐使用这些产品方面发挥着关键作用。了解这些问题对于确保患者安全和正确使用膳食补充剂非常重要。因此，本研究的目的是调查不同专业医疗保健工作者群体对膳食补充剂的知识、实践和信息来源的水平。
这项研究于 2023 年 9 月至 2024 年 6 月进行，共涉及 743 名医疗保健专业人员，包括医生、药剂师和护士。数据是通过在线原始问卷收集的。问卷被放置在与目标群体相关的门户中。
共有 73.49%的受访者表示了解膳食补充剂。最常见的信息来源是科学文章（42.8%），只有 7.00%的受访者使用官方来源，如国家卫生监督局。广告对医生的影响较小（<0.001），有 46.97%的受访者表示他们不会关注广告。此外，84.52%的受访者认为膳食补充剂的成分是他们推荐的关键因素。
医疗保健专业人员对膳食补充剂的了解程度存在差异，特别是在不同的专业群体之间。研究结果表明，需要进一步开展教育和信息标准化工作，以确保安全和负责任地向消费者推荐补充剂。
