Parisius Lisa Maria, Stock-Schröer Beate, Berger Sarah, Hermann Katja, Joos Stefanie
Department of General Practice and Health Services Research, University Hospital Heidelberg, Voßstrasse 2, Heidelberg 69115, Germany.
BMC Fam Pract. 2014 Jun 11;15:116. doi: 10.1186/1471-2296-15-116.
Reliable information regarding patient knowledge of home remedies and the types of health problems patients use them for is scarce. Nevertheless, anecdotal evidence indicates that home remedies are used by patients for managing minor health problems and that this can be sufficient for symptom management while the body recovers from minor health problems. The aim of the presented study was to explore patient use of home remedies in Germany.
A questionnaire was developed and pretested in a pilot study phase. The revised questionnaire was comprised of questions about general knowledge and experienced efficiency of home remedies, the use of home remedies for common health problems and socio-demographic data. Patients were recruited via randomly selected addresses of general practitioners (GPs) in three regions of Germany (Heidelberg, Erfurt and Hanover and surrounding areas). The questionnaire was handed out in the waiting area of GP practices. The data was analyzed descriptively.
480 of 592 patients from 37 GP practices were included, according to a response rate of 81%. Based on the survey results, home remedies were widely known and used by about 80% of our respondents (on average 22 different home remedies were used per person). The most frequently used home remedies were steam-inhalation, hot lemon drink, honey, chamomile tea and chicken soup. 80% of respondents tried home remedies before pharmaceutical options. Information about home remedies was most commonly gained from family members, rather than from written guides, media or GPs.
These results provide an initial overview on the use of home remedies from the patient's perspective in a German context. Bearing in mind the high use of home remedies that was reported by patients in the study, it is highly likely that GPs in Germany may need to advise patients on their use of home remedies during consultations. To this end, given the scarcity of reliable information on home remedies, further research is needed.
关于患者对家庭疗法的了解以及患者使用家庭疗法所针对的健康问题类型的可靠信息很少。然而，轶事证据表明，患者使用家庭疗法来管理轻微健康问题，并且在身体从轻微健康问题中恢复时，这对于症状管理可能就足够了。本研究的目的是探索德国患者对家庭疗法的使用情况。
在一项试点研究阶段开发并预先测试了一份问卷。修订后的问卷包括关于家庭疗法的一般知识和经验有效性、用于常见健康问题的家庭疗法的使用情况以及社会人口统计学数据的问题。通过随机选择德国三个地区（海德堡、爱尔福特和汉诺威及其周边地区）的全科医生（GP）的地址来招募患者。问卷在全科医生诊所的候诊区发放。对数据进行描述性分析。
来自37个全科医生诊所的592名患者中有480名被纳入，回复率为81%。根据调查结果，家庭疗法广为人知，约80%的受访者使用过（平均每人使用22种不同的家庭疗法）。最常用的家庭疗法是蒸汽吸入、热柠檬水、蜂蜜、洋甘菊茶和鸡汤。80%的受访者在选择药物治疗之前尝试过家庭疗法。关于家庭疗法的信息最常见的是从家庭成员那里获得，而不是从书面指南、媒体或全科医生那里获得。
这些结果从患者角度提供了德国背景下家庭疗法使用情况的初步概述。考虑到研究中患者报告的家庭疗法高使用率，德国的全科医生很可能需要在咨询过程中就家庭疗法的使用向患者提供建议。为此，鉴于关于家庭疗法的可靠信息稀缺，还需要进一步研究。
