Study and analysis of the situation regarding the consumption of dietary supplements by the population of Ukraine

Abstract

This article shows a study of different aspects of dietary supplement (DS) consumption by the population of Ukraine, the probability of using poor-quality DS is determined. As a part of this project, a questionnaire-based survey on the issue of DS consumption was conducted among residents of the following Ukrainian cities: Kyiv, Poltava, Kharkiv and Vyshneve (Kyiv region). The following data were analyzed: statistical data of the Ukrainian population, presence of pharmaceutical facilities in regions of Ukraine, DS sales volumes and laboratory data concerning correspondence of DS with the claimed content of active ingredients. Statistical analysis was carried out with use of the standard software Microsoft Excel 2007 and STATISTICA 8.0 portable  The survey allowed to evaluate health level of respondents who take DS, obtain information concerning purposes or recommendations for DS taking, detect channels of purchase of such products, identify the risks of taking poor-quality DS. According to the survey results, about 72% of respondents are taking DS. The survey results indicate that 39% of respondents that take DS consider themselves healthy, almost half of respondents have insignificant health problems and about 12% of respondents have serious health problems. 79% of respondents purchase DS in pharmacies, which allows to conclude that about 59.7 million packaging of DS were consumed in Ukraine in 2019. It was confirmed that the presence of pharmaceutical facilities is even in all regions of Ukraine and, therefore, residents have access to necessary DS through pharmacies. Taking into account the results of laboratory tests of DS quality, the risks of poor-quality DS consumption in Ukraine in 2019 may be estimated as 9.5%. The research results of test purchases demonstrate that the aforementioned risks may increase significantly.