Background: Self-treatment of dietary supplements may contribute to interactions and severe side effects. Limited studies have constructed a scale that can measure the disclosure practice of supplements to healthcare providers and the influencing factors.
Objective: The study aims to investigate the supplement disclosure practice among the public in the UAE using a developed and validated supplement disclosure assessment scale tool.
Design: A cross-sectional survey study that targeted those residing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) aged 18 years and above from both genders through an online survey.
Methods: A novel scale tool was developed and examined for its validity and reliability through three pilot studies.
Results: The study included three validity and reliability pilot studies before the main study evaluation: pilot 1 (n = 104), pilot 2 (n = 101), pilot 3 (n = 37), and study data (n = 407). A total of 407 respondents provided feedback from which 137 stated that they consumed supplements. A significant indirect effect of healthcare provider initiation of enquiry (HPE) on patient-informing practice (PI) was observed through two mediating variables, patient's beliefs (PB) and pharmacist counseling regarding supplements interactions (PC) (B = 0.106, t = 2.120, p = 0.03 and B = 0.077, t = 2.011, p = 0.04, respectively). Most respondents were not asked about their supplement consumption by the hospital and community pharmacists (52.94 and 50.74, respectively). Most respondents (54.89%) stated that pharmacists did not counsel them about any possible interaction of supplements with laboratory tests. The mean construct scores were 1.096 for PI, 2.618 for PC, 1.552 for HPE, and 1.412 for PB.
Conclusion: The instrument demonstrates desirable validity and reliability. The study results revealed a direct effect of PB and PC on the supplement disclosure practice. HPE indirectly affected PI through two mediating variables: PB and PC. The results showed a moderate HPE and PC and an excellent PB and PI construct.
Keywords: disclosure; healthcare professionals; interactions; safety; self-treatment; supplements.
The supplements’ intake and disclosure practice using a developed and validated SIDP-12 tool that prevents drug-supplement interactions Why was the study done? Self-treatment and overuse of dietary supplements have been a longstanding concern and have notably escalated during the COVID-19 pandemic. This may contribute to interactions and severe side effects. Limited studies have constructed a scale that can measure the disclosure practice of supplements to healthcare providers and the influencing factors. What did the researchers do? We studied the supplement disclosure practice among the public in the UAE using a developed and validated supplement disclosure assessment scale tool. We asked several questions to UAE residents through an online survey. The survey explored supplement intake and disclosure practice to physicians and pharmacists. The survey also assessed novel influencing factors of supplement intake disclosure, which contributes to preventing drug-supplement interactions. What did the researchers find? This study found that the developed tool showed desirable validity and reliability. We found that the novel suggested hypotheses stating that pharmacists’ counseling regarding supplement interactions (PC) with drugs, food, and lab test results directly affected patients’ supplement informing practices (PI) to their healthcare providers. Similarly, the patient’s beliefs regarding the need to inform healthcare providers (PB). Most of the respondents were not asked about their supplement consumption or counseled at all regarding any possible interactions of their supplements, especially with lab test results, which indicates a gap in practice that requires further attention, especially during pandemics in which the self-treatment behavior escalated significantly, and lockdown restricted the accessibility to healthcare institutions. Interestingly, healthcare providers’ initiation of enquiry (HPE) did not directly affect disclosure but indirectly through two mediating factors, PB and PC. The scale results showed moderate HPE and PC and excellent PB and PI practices in the UAE. What is the impact of the findings? The study has identified important factors influencing the disclosure practice of supplement consumption. The current scale provides a quality healthcare service evaluation tool that can be used in healthcare facilities to improve the counseling and communication services of supplement consumption between patients and healthcare providers to assure drug safety and avoid interactions.
© The Author(s), 2024.