Skip to main content
NUTRITION 2024 Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Back

Vitamins and Minerals (Poster Session)

(P17-013-24) The Association Between Perceived Severity of COVID-19 Symptoms and Intakes of Nutritional Supplements: A Cross-Sectional Study

Sunday, June 30, 2024
11:45 AM – 12:45 PM CT
Location: Poster Board 350

    Presenting Author(s)

  • EH

    Emma Yun Zhi Huang, Associate Professor

    Scientist of Nutrition Investigator
    Nutrilite Health Institute
    Shanghai, Shanghai, China (People's Republic)

    • Co-Author(s)

  • YL

    Yufei Li

    Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao, Macau

  • JK

    Juntao Kan

    Nutrilite Health Institute
    Shanghai, Shanghai, China (People's Republic)

  • SL

    Simon Ching Lam

    Tung Wah College, Hong Kong

  • YX

    Ying Xiao

    Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao, Macau

  • JD

    Jun Du, PhD

    Senior Manager
    Nutrilite Health Institute
    Shanghai, Shanghai, China (People's Republic)

Objectives: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the fear of COVID-19 might further promote people’s health behavior of consuming Dietary Supplements (DS). As the Leventhal's self-regulatory model posits, COVID-19 patients’ comprehensive severity of symptoms would be associated with the change of their DS intake behaviors.

Our study aims to provide advice for patients with viral infection to reduce perceived symptomology severity, and for stakeholders in healthcare and pharmaceutical industries to deliver suitable strategies on DS promotion and intervention for patients with high perceived severity of a viral infection.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from Jan 3 to 20, 2022, after the first infection peak of the Omicron in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, totally 1000 participants were included in this study.

Results: DS Consumption was significantly higher after infection versus before (p < 0.001). The mean increase ranged from 0.109 for CoQ10 (t statistic=-7.88, DF=999, P=.000) to 0.300 for VC (t statistic=-12.06, DF=999, P=.000). Significant negative correlations were observed between comprehensive severity and intake of VB (r=-0.1655, p=0.0005), VD (r=-0.1249, p=0.0090), VC (r=-0.1423, p=0.0029), calcium (r=-0.1190, p=0.0128) and Z-I-S (r=-0.1075, p=0.0247) prior to infection. Intake of protein (r=-0.1125, p=0.0186) and CoQ10 (r=-0.1181, p=0.0135) also showed significant negative correlations with comprehensive severity.

Intake of VC, VB and VD were significantly negatively correlated with both comprehensive severity (VC: r=-0.1468, p< 0.0001; VB: r=-0.1304, p< 0.0001; VD: r=-0.1283, p< 0.0001). Correlations with comprehensive severity were also significant, but negligible (|r|≤0.10) for protein (r=-0.0946, p=0.0028), probiotics (r=-0.0904, p=0.0042), CoQ10 (r=-0.1019, p=0.0013), fish oil (r=-0.0761, p=0.0161), calcium (r=-0.0873, p=0.0057) and Z-I-S (r=-0.0707, p=0.0254).

Conclusions: This study indicated that habitual consumption of VC, VB, VD, protein supplements, CoQ10, calcium, and Z-I-S, would have potentials to alleviate comprehensive severity of COVID-19 symptoms. Besides, people with a higher score of comprehensive severity of COVID-19 symptoms would be more likely to consume various of DS.

Funding Sources: Not funded