The use of herbal supplements by individuals with diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVE

To analyse the use of herbal supplements by individuals with diabetes mellitus.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was carried out in the endocrinology clinics of two hospitals in Izmir, Turkey, between June and August 2016. The sample consisted of diabetic patients. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews guided by a questionnaire. SPSS 17 was used to analyse the data.

RESULTS

There were 455 subjects with a mean age of 47.02±16.6 years. Of the total, 373(82%) were female, and 352(77.4%) were diagnosed with type-2 diabetes. Overall, 262(57.6%) subjects used herbal supplements like cinnamon, sage, thyme, turmeric and ginseng. Significant differences in the use of herbal supplements were found according to gender, marital status, and duration of diabetes (p<0.05 each).

CONCLUSIONS

About half of the diabetic patients used herbal supplements.