Skip to main content

Table 2 Prevalence of dietary supplement use by military personnel

From: A systematic review and meta-analysis on the prevalence of dietary supplement use by military personnel

Study

Subjects

Proportion of entire sample reporting use (%)

  

Any DS Use

Any Vit (V), Minl (M), or Vit/Minl (VM) Suppl

MV or MVM Suppl

Vit A

Vit B or B Cmpx

Vit C

Vit D

Vit E

Fe

Ca

Zn

Creatine

Amino acids (A), Prot (P), or Amino acids & Prot (AP)

Ginkgo Biloba

Ginseng

Sport drink

Sport bar

Other DSs in study

Carlson et al. [14]

43 ♂ US Army senior non-commissioned officers

 

VM-7

                

Klicka et al. [15, 32]

119 ♂ cadets at USMA

14

                 

86 ♀ cadets at USMA

35

                 

Schneider et al. [21]

91 ♂ SEAL personnel

78

 

26

        

32

AP-12

  

19

40

 

Kennedy & Arsenault [33]

2,215 ♂ US Army Special Forces and Rangers in training

64

 

30

5b

3

13

 

6

3

5

3

15

A-9a

 

5

 

11

Cr-4

Warber et al. [16]

2,547 ♂ US Army Soldiers

 

V-18

24

         

A-10

   

8

 

494 ♀ US Army Soldiers

 

V-24

35

         

A-4

   

3

 

McGraw et al. [22]

367 ♂ US Army Rangers

36

 

16

  

7

     

19

AP-14

   

6

 

Sheppard et al. [34]

102 ♂ & 31 ♀ US military health clubs users

 

V-65 M-47

         

29

P-45

    

Caf-32

Arsenault & Cline [35]

50 ♀ US officers in Basic Officer Training

38

                 

Stevens & Olsen [36]

439 ♂ & 60 ♀ US Marine Corps or AF basic trainees

41

          

23

     

AD-8

Shanks [17]

224 ♀ US active duty AF women

             

5

5

  

Eph-5; Gar-4; Ech-5; SJW-5

Bovill et al. [12]

119 ♂ US Army Special Forces soldiers

90

 

55

  

20

 

12

 

9

 

18

P-24

  

71

52

 

Deuster et al. [5]

38 ♂ US Army Rangers

82

          

13

P-24

  

82

 

Eph-13

Brasfield [6]

750 ♂ US Army soldiers

59

 

33

8

7c

17

 

10

7

12

3

16

A-6

6

14

  

K-7; Vit B6-6; CP-4; Eph-13; Gar-7; Ech-4

124 ♀ US Army soldiers

70

 

40

7

15

7

12

14

  

6

Castillo et al. [18]

1,326 ♂ & 120 ♀ US marines

54

VM-13

         

18

     

Eph-24; AD-5

Bray et al. [19]

12,119 ♂ US quad-service members

58

VM-25

43

               

4,027 ♀ US quad-service members

71

VM-37

56

               

2,818 ♂ Army Soldiers

55

VM-24

38

               

821 ♀ Army Soldiers

66

VM-34

50

               

3,341 ♂ Navy Sailors

60

VM-27

46

               

1,286 ♀ Navy Sailors

71

VM-36

55

               

2,767 ♂ Marines

61

VM-24

41

               

589 ♀ Marines

71

VM-33

53

               

3,193 ♂ AF Airmen

60

VM-25

47

               

1,331 ♀ AF Airmen

76

VM-40

63

               

Smith et al. [37]

1,009 ♂ and 296 ♀ US Navy and Marine Corps personnel

 

V-12

                

Johnson et al. [30, 38]

294 ♂ US Army Rangers

56

          

26

P-35 A-4

     

Corum [23]

3,789 ♂ & 1,146 ♀ US Army Soldiers assigned in Europe

  

34

13

 

24

  

14

19

 

13

P-14

4

7

43

17

K-12; Ech-4; Gar-5; Vit B6-12; Caf-18

French [24]

376 US service members

69

 

57

 

8

 

3

9

 

13

 

6

P-14 A-4

    

Ω3FA-9; GlCon-7; FSO-4

Lieberman [29]

284 ♂ US senior military officers

71

 

39

5

6

17

 

22

 

5

   

5

 

10

 

Gar-6

31 ♀ US senior military officers

81

 

52

16

36d

29

 

32

 

32

       

Mg-13

Lieberman [27]

768 ♂ US Army Rangers

81

 

23

        

19

PA-18

  

41

6

AD-7

Lieberman [28]

152 ♂ US Army Special Forces Soldiers

65

 

32

  

11

 

7

   

16

P-16

  

36

15

AD-6

Lieberman [26]

444♂ US Army Soldiers

55

 

30

5

 

13

5

6

 

6

 

5

P-13

  

20

5

 

40 ♀ US Army Soldiers

70

 

28

 

23e

13

8

8

10

15

  

P-8

  

28

  

Thomasos [31]

10,985 US AFpersonnel

69

                 

Young & Stephens [39]

236 ♂ & 83 ♀ US Marine Corps recruits entering basic training

50

V-26

        

3

26

P-43

6

 

36

 

NO-16;Glu-16; GlCon-9

Boos et al. [7]

889 ♂ & 128 ♀ UK Soldiers deployed in Iraq

32

 

2

        

13

P-19 A-18

    

Caf-4

Lieberman et al. [8, 41, 42]

859 ♂ US Army Soldiers

53f

VM-17

37

         

PA-20

  

23

6

ED-41

131 ♀ US Army Soldiers

57f

VM-23

41

         

PA-9

  

24

4

ED-25

17 ♂ US Special Forces Soldiers

77 f

VM-64

64

         

PA-47

  

32

7

 

Wells & Webb [20]

197 US AF trainees in Tactical Air Control Party training

73

                 

Boos et al. [40]

78 ♂ & 9 ♀ UK Soldiers deployed in Afghanistan

40

          

14

PA-34

    

CP-15

Jacobson et al. [43]

72,718 ♂ and 33,980 ♀ US service members (active & reserve)

47

                 

Toblin et al. [44]

988 ♂ deployed US Army soldiers and marines

                 

ED-45

Kjertakov et al. [45]

78 ♂ Macedonian Rangers

64

 

47

13

14

44

 

9

8

18

3

3

P-8A-5

 

0

15

 

VitB6-14; Vit B12-6; Mg-10

54 ♂ Macedonian Special Forces Soldiers

70

 

54

13

24

54

 

15

13

11

2

2

P-7 A-11a

 

2

15

 

VitB6-13; Vit B12-9; Mg-16; Se-4; Glu-4

Cassler et al. [9]

310 ♂ US marines deployed in Afghanistan

72

 

47

         

P-64

    

ED-42

 

19 ♀ US marines deployed in Afghanistan

42

                 
  1. Abbreviations: ♂ = men, ♀ = women; DS = dietary supplement; Vit or V = vitamin; Minl or M = mineral; VM = vitamin and/or mineral; MV = multivitamin; MVM = multivitamin/multimineral; A = amino acid; Prot or P = protein; AP = amino acids and protein; cmpx = complex; Fe = iron; Ca = calcium; Zn = zinc; Mg = magnesium; Cr = chromium; Se = selenium; K = potassium; Caf = caffeine; ED = energy drink; Gar = garlic; AD = androstenedione; Eph = ephedrine; FSO = flax seed oil; Glu = glutamine; Ech-echinacea; SJW = Saint John’s Wort; Ω3FA = omega-3-fatty acid; GlCon = glucosamine chondroitin; NO = nitric acid; CP = chromium picolinate; AF = Air Force; SEAL = Sea, Air, Land (US Navy special operations personnel); UK = United Kingdom; USMA = United State Military Academy.
  2. Notes: aCombines amino acids and branched chain amino acids; bCombines β-carotene and Vit A; cCombines B-complex, folic acid, and pantothenic acid; dCombines folate, B-complex, and Vit B6; eCombines folate and Vit B6; fExcludes sport drinks/bars/gels.