Effect of fish oil supplement administration method on tolerability and adherence: a randomized pilot clinical trial

Abstract

Objectives: Anecdotally, several strategies have been suggested in order to improve tolerability of fish oil supplements, but there is little evidence supporting any of these strategies. The aim of this study was to determine if there is a difference among four methods of oral administration of fish oil supplementation in terms of tolerability and adherence.

Methods: A randomized, prospective, open-label, four-arm pilot study was conducted on 60 healthy adult subjects randomized to different fish oil supplement administration methods with (1) milk, (2) food, (3) an empty stomach, and (4) frozen capsules prior to ingestion. Each subject was instructed to take two capsules three times daily for 30 consecutive days. Adherence was assessed by pill counts. Adverse effects were assessed by survey and patient exit interview.

Results: No apparent differences were demonstrated among the four administration groups in terms of adherence, reasons for non-adherence, or self-reported adverse effects.

Conclusions: Method of administration did not affect rates of adherence or incidence of adverse effects in a small cohort of healthy adults taking fish oil supplement capsules for 30 days.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01471366. Registered November 16, 2011.

Keywords: Adherence; Adverse effects; Docosahexaenoic acid; Eicosapentaenoic acid; Fish oil; N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids; Safety; Tolerability.

Conflict of interest statement

Not applicable.This study was approved by the University of Mississippi Institutional Review Board. All procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards set forth by the Helsinki Declaration of 1975 as revised in 1983.Not applicable as this manuscript does not contain any individual person’s data.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1

Enrollment strategy

Fig. 2

Adherence rates. Means ± standard deviation