19 ABSTRACT Objectives: To determine the prevalence and type of dietary supplement used, reasons for use, and sources of supplement information among Macedonian elite Soldiers. Methods: Anonymous self-reported question- naires containing questions about demographic char- acteristics and dietary supplementation practices were distributed to 134 Soldiers, of whom 80 were recruited from the Ranger Battalion (R) and 54 from the Special Force Battalion (SF). Results: The Soldiers completed and returned 132 questionnaires. Overall, 66.6% of the Soldiers, including 70.3% of SF and 64.1% of R, re- ported using supplements within the 3 months before the survey. On average, each of these Soldiers used 3.7 ± 2.9 supplements. The most commonly used supplements were multivitamins (50.0%) and vitamin C (47.7%). The most frequently cited reason for using supplements was to improve general health (51.6%). Primary sources of supplement information were friends (42.0%) and books/magazines (40.9%). Conclusions: Dietary sup- plement use was found to be common and widespread among this military subpopulation. Given this, and the fact that the majority of the Soldiers do not receive ac- curate information about supplements, educational intervention regarding the safety and efficacy of these products is needed if unnecessary or harmful supplemen- tation practices are to be prevented. Introduction The popularity and acceptance of dietary supplements are on the rise throughout the world. Several recent studies conducted worldwide reported that the preva- lence of supplement use in the general population ranges between 23% and 62%, with multivitamins and indi- vidual vitamins and minerals being the most commonly used supplements. 1–8 Some of the prior studies have also revealed that people decide to use such products for a variety of reasons, of which the most frequently cited are to prevent illness, increase energy, ensure adequate nutrition, improve well-being, lose weight, build muscle, and enhance athletic performance. 9–11 However, the ben- eficial effects of supplementation are still not well estab- lished. Moreover, it has been shown that certain type of supplements may cause serious health problems. 12 While supplementation practices among the civilian population have been investigated extensively, little is known about the use of supplements among military populations. In fact, there are some data available from studies conducted mainly with U.S. Army Soldiers, 13–15 but they may not be applicable to the armed forces from other countries, such as Macedonia. Therefore, the pur- pose of this study is to determine the prevalence and type of supplement used, reasons for use, and sources of supplement information among the Soldiers from the Macedonian Special Operations Regiment. We decided to study the members of an elite unit because it appears that supplement use is most prevalent among this mili- tary subpopulation. 14 Methods One hundred thirty-four male Soldiers from the Mace- donian Special Operations Regiment volunteered to par- ticipate in this study, which took place from November 2009 to January 2010. Eighty of them were recruited from the Ranger Battalion (R) and 54 from the Special Force Battalion (SF). All Soldiers were briefed about the purpose and procedure of the study before providing their informed consent to participate. Approval to con- duct this study was granted by the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Macedonia. For the purpose of the study, an anonymous question- naire was developed based on previously published stud- ies. 13–15 Before administering the questionnaire to study participants, it was pilot tested for comprehension on 10 Soldiers who were not included in the subsequent study. The first section of the questionnaire required Soldiers to answer questions concerning demographic character- istics such as age, weight, height, smoking status, and The Use of Dietary Supplement Among Soldiers From the Macedonian Special Operations Regiment Metodija Kjertakov, BS; Robert Hristovski, PhD; Muhamet Racaj, PhD