Objective: Although there are numerous epidemiological studies on supplement use, only a small number of studies focused on the issue of the subjective health perception and the clinical laboratory data. The aim of this study was to determine the relation between supplement use and the subjective health perception and the clinical laboratory data.
Method: The participants were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire on supplement use, and subjective health perception (“overweight”, “easy fatigability”, “lower tolerance”, and “anxiety about bone and joints”) during the previous one month. The clinical laboratory data (blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, LDL-C), demographic information, smoking status and drug use were collected from the record at the medical checkup center.
Results: 608 men and 500 women were enrolled. A total of 30.3% of participants were found to use supplements. Logistic regression analysis revealed that supplement users were more likely to be women, older than 40 years, with lower or higher BMI, and with the normal laboratory data. However, the four items of subjective health perception and the three laboratory data were not individually associated with the supplement use.
Conclusion: Supplement use was associated with middle aged women with low or high BMI and normal clinical laboratory data.