Yeong S W, Choong Y C
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Complement Ther Med. 2017 Dec;35:92-108. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2017.09.005. Epub 2017 Oct 13.
We investigated the knowledge and characteristics of herbal supplement usage of the customers of community pharmacies in a Malaysian population.
Self-administered questionnaires (in English, Malay, or Chinese) were provided to customers at three community pharmacies in Malaysia (Ipoh, Perak). Questionnaire validation and translation validation were performed. A pilot study was conducted before actual questionnaire distribution. Informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Total number of participants was 270 (99 males and 171 females) with majority from the 31-50 age group (41.5%). Among the participants, 45.6% were herbal users. The most commonly used herbal supplements were evening primrose oil (17.9%), ginkgo biloba (13.0%), and milk thistle (8.5%). The participants seemed to have sufficient knowledge regarding herbal supplements including safety, quality, and indication of use from medical literature. Participants obtained information about herbal supplements from pharmacists (26.9%), package inserts (25.2%), friends (20.5%), and the Internet (13.3%) more often than from their doctors (9.8%). Most herbal users did not inform their doctors about their usage of herbal supplements (68.3%) or the side effects (61.5%). Herbal supplement users also tended to be women, >50-year-old, and those with higher monthly household incomes.
Community pharmacists have a vital role in educating their customers about the safe use of herbal supplements. The participants had sufficient knowledge about herbal supplement usage; therefore, customers of these community pharmacies may have benefitted from the advice of the pharmacists. Further studies could be carried out in future on the knowledge, skills and roles of community pharmacists in the safe use of herbal supplements.
我们调查了马来西亚人群中社区药房顾客使用草药补充剂的知识和特点。
向马来西亚霹雳州怡保市的三家社区药房的顾客提供了自行填写的问卷（英文、马来文或中文）。进行了问卷验证和翻译验证。在实际分发问卷之前进行了一项试点研究。获得了所有参与者的知情同意。
参与者总数为270人（99名男性和171名女性），大多数来自31 - 50岁年龄组（41.5%）。在参与者中，45.6%是草药使用者。最常用的草药补充剂是月见草油（17.9%）、银杏叶（13.0%）和水飞蓟（8.5%）。参与者似乎对草药补充剂有足够的了解，包括医学文献中的安全性、质量和使用说明。参与者从药剂师（26.9%）、包装说明书（25.2%）、朋友（20.5%）和互联网（13.3%）获得草药补充剂信息的频率高于从医生（9.8%）处获得信息的频率。大多数草药使用者没有告知医生他们使用草药补充剂的情况（68.3%）或副作用（61.5%）。草药补充剂使用者还倾向于女性、年龄大于50岁且家庭月收入较高的人群。
社区药剂师在教育顾客安全使用草药补充剂方面起着至关重要的作用。参与者对草药补充剂的使用有足够的了解；因此，这些社区药房的顾客可能受益于药剂师的建议。未来可以进一步研究社区药剂师在安全使用草药补充剂方面的知识、技能和作用。
