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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.
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