The Prevalence, Attitude and Awareness of Herbal Medicine Products Use Among Pharmacy Practitioner in Jordan

Abstract

Conventional medicine is any agent that largely used by most healthcare professionals to treat any disease that infects humans and animals or to decrease the severity of any condition or diagnosis or prevention. 1 Herbal medicine considered to be the oldest form of healing and treating different diseases. The history of herbal medicine is part of the history of medicine itself and herbal knowledge came to Europe from the Middle East during the crusades. Herbal medicine is classified as 'complementary' or 'alternative' in most countries, it stills the only type of medicine that widely available to much of the world's population. Herbal medicines have been utilized in most traditional cultures and have had a vital impact on many systems, including Ayurvedic (Indian) medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, and conventional medicine. There was a written record of Egyptian, Roman, Persian and Hebrew cultures reported that they were used herbs to cure every complaint and diseases. 2 Although herbal medicine is classed as 'alternative' or 'complementary' in most Western countries, it remains the only form of medicine widely available to much of the world's population. Although herbal medicine is classed as 'alternative' or 'complementary' in most Western countries, it remains the only form of medicine widely available to much of the world's population. 3 These medicines play a major part in the pharmaceutical market in all world contourites. Many of these products are currently sold in pharmaceutical forms such as tablets, capsules, syrups, etc.… prescribed by physicians or over the counter for curing different conditions. It became a good business for several companies to produce and market safe and effective herbal preparations. Most patients go to complementary medicines produced from a natural herbal source because they believe that they are safer, more effective and have fewer side effects than traditional synthetic medicine. In the other hand, consumers believed ABSTRACT Background: There has been a universal increase in the use of herbal medicine products (HMPs). Herbal medicine considered to be the oldest form of healing and treating different diseases. Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence, attitude of HMPs use and awareness among pharmaceutical practitioner in Jordan. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire on a sample of 230 Jordanian pharmacy practitioner (pharmacist and pharmacy assistant), within 90 different private pharmacies in different cities of Jordan during the period of 6 months in the mid of 2018. The survey questionnaire included: the socio-demographic characteristics of participants, the source of information of the use of the HMPs, the attitude towards the use and safety of the HMPs and their combination with conventional drugs. Results: Out of 230 pharmacy practitioners interviewed in this study, the utilization rate of the HMPs use was just 41.7%. A large number of practitioners (58.3%) preferred conventiona...

Knowledge and Beliefs about Herb/Supplement Consumption and Herb/Supplement–Drug Interactions among the General Population, including Healthcare Professionals and Pharmacists: A Systematic Review and Guidelines for a Smart Decision System

“…Most studies used a correlational/comparative design. Specifically, 37 followed a cross-sectional design [ 2 , 7 , 10 , 30 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 ] ( Table 1 ) and two followed experimental designs [ 43 , 94 ] ( Table 2 ). Three studies used qualitative methodology [ 95 , 96 , 97 ] and two used mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative) research designs [ 98 , 99 ] ( Table 1 ).…”

“…Regarding data collection procedures, most of the data were collected through questionnaires/surveys [ 7 , 10 , 30 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 98 ]. In other studies, data were collected through interviews [ 2 , 61 , 96 , 99 ] and three of these studies used focus groups [ 92 , 95 , 97 ].…”

“…Knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, or perceptions about the use of NP, NS, DS, and HM were found in 41 studies [ 2 , 7 , 10 , 30 , 43 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 95 , 98 , 99 ]. The interactions were found in 24 studies [ 7 , 30 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 72 , 73 , 75 , 78 , 79 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 90 , 93 , 94 , 97 ].…”

“…In terms of the participants, 13 studies included pharmacists [ 30 , 61 , 69 , 70 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 80 , 82 , 86 , 89 , 90 , 94 ], 12 studies included the general population [ 10 , 43 , 62 , 68 , 72 , 76 , 84 , 85 , 88 , 92 , 95 , 98 ], 11 studies included a variety of healthcare workers [ 63 , 66 , 67 , 71 , 75 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 81 , 96 , 99 ], and 9 studies included patients with various conditions [ 2 , 7 , 64 , 65 , 83 , 87 , 91 , 93 , 97 ].…”

“…Other studies showed that the general population [ 10 , 62 , 72 , 76 , 84 , 85 , 88 , 92 , 95 , 98 ], patients [ 2 , 7 , 64 , 91 , 97 ], and pharmacists [ 30 , 70 , 86 ] reported that herbs/supplements prevent and/or cure diseases, including diabetes [ 30 , 64 , 76 , 88 ], and alleviate other health problems, such as constipation and acne [ 64 ], or cancer [ 10 , 30 , 91 ]. In other studies, the general population used these products to help combat COVID-19, to prevent contagion, and to cure it, along with other medications [ 92 , 98 ].…”