Damien Barikissou Georgia, Baxerres Carine, Apetoh Edwige, Le Hesran Jean-Yves
Centre of Training and Research for Population, University of Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin.
UMR261 - MERIT, French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), University of Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
BMC Public Health. 2020 Sep 18;20(1):1425. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-09479-7.
In Benin, malaria clinical cases, including the larger popular entity called "Palu" are evoked when people get fever. "Palu" is often self-diagnosed and self-medicated at home. This study aimed to describe the use of herbal medicine, and/or pharmaceutical medicines for prevention and treatment of malaria at home and the factors associated with this usage.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Benin in an urban and in a rural area in 2016. Around 600 households in each place were selected by using a random sampling of houses GPS coordinates of the families. The association between socio demographic characteristics and the use of herbal medicine was tested by using logistic regression models.
In Cotonou (urban), 43.64% of households reported using herbal or pharmaceutical medicine to prevent "Palu", while they were 53.1% in Lobogo (rural). To treat "Palu" in Cotonou, 5.34% of households reported using herbal medicine exclusively, 33.70% pharmaceutical medicine exclusively and 60.96% reported using both. In Lobogo, 4% reported using herbal medicine exclusively, 6.78% pharmaceutical medicine exclusively and 89.22% reported using both. In Cotonou, the factors "age of respondent", "participation to a traditional form of savings" and "low socioeconomic level of the household" were associated with the use of herbal medicine.
This study shows the strong use of herbal medicine to prevent "Palu" or even treat it, and in this case it is mostly associated with the use of pharmaceutical medicine. It also highlights the fact that malaria control and care seeking behaviour with herbal medicine remain closely linked to household low-income status but also to cultural behaviour. The interest of this study is mostly educational, with regards to community practices concerning "Palu", and to the design of adapted behaviour change communication strategies. Finally, there is a need to take into account the traditional habits of populations in malaria control and define a rational and risk-free use of herbal medicine as WHO-recommended.
在贝宁，当人们发烧时会联想到疟疾临床病例，包括更常见的被称为“帕卢”的病症。“帕卢”通常由患者自行在家诊断和用药。本研究旨在描述在家中预防和治疗疟疾时草药和/或药物的使用情况以及与此种使用相关的因素。
2016年在贝宁的一个城市地区和一个农村地区进行了一项横断面调查。通过随机抽取家庭的GPS坐标，在每个地方选取了约600户家庭。使用逻辑回归模型检验社会人口统计学特征与草药使用之间的关联。
在科托努（城市），43.64%的家庭报告使用草药或药物预防“帕卢”，而在洛博戈（农村）这一比例为53.1%。在科托努，治疗“帕卢”时，5.34%的家庭报告仅使用草药，33.70%仅使用药物，60.96%报告两者都使用。在洛博戈，4%报告仅使用草药，6.78%仅使用药物，89.22%报告两者都使用。在科托努，“受访者年龄”、“参与传统储蓄形式”和“家庭社会经济水平低”这些因素与草药使用有关。
本研究表明人们大量使用草药来预防甚至治疗“帕卢”，在这种情况下，草药使用大多与药物使用相关。它还突出了这样一个事实，即使用草药控制疟疾和就医行为不仅与家庭低收入状况密切相关，还与文化行为有关。本研究的意义主要在于教育方面，涉及关于“帕卢”的社区实践以及设计合适的行为改变沟通策略。最后，在疟疾控制中需要考虑民众的传统习惯，并按照世界卫生组织的建议确定合理且无风险的草药使用方法。
