Community awareness, attitudes and patterns of use toward fish oil and cod liver oil in Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

Abstract Background - Nutrition has a significant impact on health throughout life. Despite the increased frequency of questions about dietary supplements and their availability, reports showed that the communities have little knowledge of dietary supplements. Fish oils and cod liver oil is the most widely used non-vitamin, non-mineral dietary supplements. The present study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practice of the community towards dietary supplements such as fish oil and cod liver oil including some underlying factors in Ethiopia. Method - A cross-sectional multi-center study was conducted among the community in different cities of Ethiopia. Stratified random sampling was used to select a total of 900 community participants included in the study. The data was collected using an interview-administered questionnaire. Descriptive analysis was done using STATA software. Both bi-variable and multivariable logistic regression analysis was done. Results The overall knowledge, attitude, and practice of the community towards the usage of cod-liver oil or fish oil in this study was 65.04%, 62.26%, and 26.75% respectively. Participants living in Sidama and Oromo have 0.25 (AOR = 0.25:,95% CI: 0.07, 0.90) and 0.23 (AOR = 0.23:,95% CI: 0.06, 0.88), having an income level of < 3000 have 0.56 (AOR = 0.56:,95% CI: 0.30, 0.98) ) times higher odds of being knowledgable towards cod-liver oil and fish oil. Participants who have chronic illness were 3.27 (AOR = 3.27; 95% CI; 1.71, 6.23), times higher odds of practicing usage of cod-liver oil or fish oil than participants who have no chronic illness. Participants who were aged > 45 were 0.27 (AOR = 0.27; 95% CI; 0.06, 0.90), times higher odd of practicing usage of cod-liver oil or fish oil Conclusion The overall knowledge and attitude of the community were good, but their practice towards the usage of cod liver or fish oil was relatively low. Participants living in Sidama and Oromo and having an income level of < 3000 were significant predictors of knowledge of the community using cod-liver oil or fish oil. Participants living in Sidama and Oromo is one of the determinant factors for having a positive attitude towards the usage of cod-liver oil or fish oil. Participants who were aged > 45, and participants who have chronic illnesses were significant predictors of the practice of the community using cod-liver oil or fish oil.