Pirotta Marie, Willis Karen, Carter Meg, Forsdike Kirsty, Newton Danielle, Gunn Jane
Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne, Australia.
Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Australia.
Complement Ther Med. 2014 Oct;22(5):870-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2014.07.007. Epub 2014 Jul 23.
St John's wort (SJW) is one of the most commonly used complementary medicines (CM) for the self-treatment of depression which can be accessed with or without health professional advice. While there is evidence to support its effectiveness in depression it has potential for serious side effects and interactions with many pharmaceuticals and herbs. Despite the potential risks, we know little about consumer perspectives on the use of SJW. Our research aimed to understand, from their own perspective, how and why people use SJW for management of self-identified 'depression, stress or worries'.
A qualitative design, focusing on understanding the reasons for SJW use. A purposive sampling strategy was used to recruit 41 people who self-identified as having used SJW for 'depression stress or worries' from the community in Melbourne, Australia. In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted. Interviews were taped, transcribed and analysed thematically.
Three themes emerged as to why participants used SJW - ease of access of SJW, perceptions of effectiveness and safety of SJW enabling control over its use, and the perceived benefits of using a natural product. Generally, participants did not reserve use of SJW only for mild depressive symptoms.
People use many self-care strategies to manage symptoms of depression, including more severe symptoms. While there is often a preference for more natural approaches like SJW, people experiment and continue to use what they perceive is most effective for them.
圣约翰草是最常用于自我治疗抑郁症的补充药物之一，无论有无健康专业人士的建议均可获取。虽然有证据支持其对抑郁症的有效性，但它有产生严重副作用以及与许多药物和草药相互作用的可能性。尽管存在潜在风险，但我们对消费者使用圣约翰草的看法知之甚少。我们的研究旨在从他们自身的角度了解人们如何以及为何使用圣约翰草来管理自我认定的“抑郁、压力或担忧”。
采用定性设计，重点在于理解使用圣约翰草的原因。采用目的抽样策略，从澳大利亚墨尔本社区招募了41名自我认定使用圣约翰草来治疗“抑郁、压力或担忧”的人。进行了深入的面对面访谈。访谈进行了录音、转录并进行主题分析。
关于参与者使用圣约翰草的原因出现了三个主题——圣约翰草易于获取、对其有效性和安全性的认知使其能够自主控制使用，以及使用天然产品的感知益处。一般来说，参与者并非仅将圣约翰草用于轻度抑郁症状。
人们使用多种自我护理策略来管理抑郁症状，包括更严重的症状。虽然人们通常更倾向于像圣约翰草这样更天然的方法，但人们会进行尝试并继续使用他们认为对自己最有效的方法。
