Reliability of Self-Administered Questionnaire on Dietary Supplement Consumption in Malaysian Adolescents

Abstract

The repeatability of most questionnaires utilized in previous studies related to the consumption of dietary supplements (DS) among youth has not been well documented. Thus, a simple and easy-to-administer questionnaire to capture the habitual use of DS in the past one year known as the dietary supplement questionnaire (DiSQ) was developed and supported with external reliability evaluation. Analyses were done based on a convenience sample of 46 secondary school students. To elicit information regarding the intake of DS, the questionnaire was partitioned into two domains. The first domain was used to identify vitamin/mineral (VM) supplements, while the second domain was utilized to identify non-vitamin/non-mineral (NVNM) supplements. Cohen’s kappa coefficient (k) was used to evaluate the test–retest reliability of the questionnaire. Questionnaire administration to the respondents was done twice whereby a retest was given two weeks after the first test. Between test and retest, the reliability of individual items ranged from moderate to almost perfect for the VM (k = 0.53–1.00) and NVNM (k = 0.63–1.00) domains. None of the items had “fair” or ”poor” agreement. Various correlation coefficients can be obtained for the DiSQ but are generally reliable over time for assessing information on the consumption of supplements among the adolescent population.

Factors That Influence the Use of Dietary Supplements among the Students of Wroclaw Medical University in Poland during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…In the present study, the greatest differences in the prevalence of other DS use were observed between the Polish and English Divisions. Among English Division students, 38% declared the use of other DS or OTC drugs, which is consistent with results from other countries [ 50 , 53 ], but in the Polish Division, 68% of students took DS, which is more similar to the data obtained by Miljković et al [ 38 ] or in a study by Brodziak et al [ 54 ]. It is, however, worth mentioning that many studies were performed before the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…The use of DS or OTC drugs other than for stress, anxiety, depression, or sleeping problems was reported by 59% of respondents, but considering both types of DS, supplementation was declared by 436 persons which constitutes 70% of students who answered the questionnaire. It was found that there are great differences between countries in the use of dietary supplements in young people and children, ranging from 20% in Australia or Japan to 35–37% in Italy or the USA [ 50 ]. However, studies performed in groups of students indicated a greater usage of DS, e.g., 52% in the USA, 54% in Australia, and 68% in Serbia [ 38 , 51 , 52 , 53 ].…”

Lifestyle indices of body composition and obesity risk and prevalence among multi-ethnic adolescents in Malaysia

“…The intake of specific types of dietary supplements—including fatty acids, growth/protein formula, and antioxidant-rich supplements—was extracted using a dietary supplement questionnaire (DiSQ) with a substantial kappa correlation coefficient ( k = 0.62) ( 33 ). In brief, the questionnaire inquires about the consumption of vitamins/minerals and nutraceutical or natural products over the past year (using yes/no questions).…”

Quality of energy intake in Malaysian adolescents: prevalence, characteristics, determinants and impact of implausible reporters

“…Dietary supplement intake was extracted using a validated dietary supplement questionnaire for adolescents (18) . Demographic information (gender at birth, age, ethnicity and school types), smoking and alcohol intake status were obtained as part of the questionnaire.…”