Gardner J M, Grant D, Hutchinson S, Wilks R
Tropical Medicine Research Institute, University of the West Indies, Kingston 7, Jamaica.
West Indian Med J. 2000 Dec;49(4):331-5.
We investigated the prevalence of the use of herbs among adults and children in Jamaica in 1996. Two concurrent surveys were conducted in randomly selected urban and rural areas: among adults and among caretakers of young children. From over 90% of the selected households, all caretakers of children under 6 years and one randomly selected adult (18 years or older) were interviewed using structured questionnaires. The 457 adults reportedly used 156 types of herbs: a mean of 6 +/- 3 (mean +/- standard deviation) by the urban adults, and 10 +/- 6 by the rural adults (t-test, p < 0.001). Almost 100% of respondents had at some time used herbs for teas or for treating illnesses. The most common method of preparation was by infusion or boiling in water, then adding sugar. Urban respondents, women and those who were employed were more likely to buy medicines than to use herbal remedies. One hundred and sixty-seven caretakers of 203 children under 6 years were interviewed. The mean number of herbs given to each child was between 2 and 3. The most common herbs were introduced within the first 6 months of life. Many caretaker factors were associated with herbal use. Public health implications include the potential toxicity of some herbs, the possibility that herbal teas given to young children may displace more nutritious foods and delay presentation to health care facilities. The findings will allow policy makers to target those most likely to use herbal preparations or to give them to young children, and target herbs to be analyzed for toxic or beneficial properties.
1996年，我们对牙买加成年人和儿童使用草药的情况进行了调查。在随机选取的城乡地区同时开展了两项调查：一项针对成年人，另一项针对幼儿看护人。从超过90%的选定家庭中，使用结构化问卷对所有6岁以下儿童的看护人和一名随机选取的成年人（18岁及以上）进行了访谈。据报道，457名成年人使用了156种草药：城市成年人平均使用6±3种（均值±标准差），农村成年人平均使用10±6种（t检验，p<0.001）。几乎100%的受访者曾在某些时候使用草药泡茶或治病。最常见的制备方法是用水冲泡或煮沸，然后加糖。城市受访者、女性和就业者购买药品而非使用草药疗法的可能性更大。对203名6岁以下儿童的167名看护人进行了访谈。给每个孩子使用的草药平均数量在2至3种之间。最常用的草药是在出生后的前6个月内开始使用的。许多看护人因素与草药使用有关。对公共卫生的影响包括某些草药的潜在毒性、给幼儿饮用草药茶可能会取代更有营养的食物以及延误前往医疗机构就诊的可能性。这些研究结果将使政策制定者能够针对那些最有可能使用草药制剂或给幼儿使用草药制剂的人群，并确定需要分析其毒性或有益特性的草药。
