Complementary/alternative medicine practices are rising in popularity as evidenced by the billion-dollar herbal supplement industry. Herbal supplement use was found to be of interest to college students through Internet newsgroups but no study on the topic was found to target this population. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of herbal supplement use, reasons for use, expectations, experienced side effects and perceived dangers in regard to supplement use in a college population. The subjects were 500 randomly selected students contacted via electronic mail and invited to complete an Internet survey. Of the 136 respondents, 22.8% were herbal supplement users. The top 5 products sued were ginseng, echinacea, gingko, garlic and goldenseal. Recommendations for supplement use came mainly from friends, family and media rather than health professionals. The most frequently cited reasons for use were desire to improve and gain control over personal health, and testimonials of improved health by other users. Product expectations were realized by 87.5% of users and 8.3% experienced side effects. Finally, 28.2% of users and non-users perceived some harm in utilizing herbal remedies, yet 19.4% of users took the supplements anyway. Further study of herbal supplement product use is warranted in this population.
Learning Objectives: After the session the learner will be able to: List the herbal supplements most commonly used by college students Identify the reasons college students are using herbal supplements Discuss an Internet methodology for data collection
Keywords: Alternative Medicine/Therapies, Internet
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.