Resumen de Masters Swimmers Use More Dietary Supplements Than a Large National Comparison Population in the United States

Sally K. Guthrie, Steven R. Erickson

• The use of dietary supplements was compared between a cohort of committed exercisers, U.S. MastersSwimming (USMS) members (n = 1,042), and the general U.S.population, exemplified by respondents to theNational Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2009 to 2010 (n = 6,209). USMS swimmersweresignificantly more likely to take dietary supplements (62%) than the general U.S. adult population,as represented by the NHANES population (37%).Those taking dietary supplements were older, more likelyto be female and Caucasian, and more highly educated and affluent than those not taking supplements (p <.001 for all). When adjusted for age, race, gender, annual income, and education, masters swimmers were stillmore likely (p < .001) to use dietary supplementsthan the NHANES cohort. In addition, masters swimmerswere significantly more likely (p < .001) to use either creatine or dehydroepiandrosterone ortestosterone thanthose in the NHANES cohort.