Department of Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
Trop Med Int Health. 2021 Apr;26(4):410-420. doi: 10.1111/tmi.13541. Epub 2021 Jan 18.
Worldwide, herbal medicinal products (HMPs) play key roles in healthcare systems, especially in developing countries, yet there is inconsistent evidence about their prevalence and patterns of use in Ghana. This study therefore sought to determine the prevalence, patterns and beliefs about the use of HMPs in Ghana.
A descriptive community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted using a researcher-administered questionnaire on 1364 adults, selected from five communities for each of the ecological zones in Ghana using a multi-stage sampling procedure. The study was conducted between December 2019 and March 2020.
The prevalence of ever use of HMPs was 76.5% with 73.0% of respondents using these products within the past year. Almost 60% of respondents reported using HMPs that were registered by the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority. About 56.7% used these products to cure diseases. All the sociodemographic characteristics (age, religion, marital status, educational level and employment status) except for sex were significantly associated with the use of HMPs (P < 0.001). For beliefs about HMPs, the proportion of respondents classified to be accepting, ambivalent, indifferent and sceptical was 14.3%, 25.2%, 47.5% and 13.07%, respectively. About 62.2% of study participants had plans to use HMPs in the future, and 69.1% were willing to encourage others to use such products. However, 51.6% of the participants did not perceive HMPs as more effective and safe compared with orthodox products.
The prevalence of use of HMPs in Ghana is high, thus suggesting an appropriate public health policy to improve the regulation of these products and also provide basis for the integration of HMPs into the healthcare system in Ghana.
在全球范围内，草药药物（HMPs）在医疗保健系统中发挥着关键作用，尤其是在发展中国家，但关于它们在加纳的流行程度和使用模式的证据并不一致。因此，本研究旨在确定加纳 HMPs 的流行程度、使用模式和使用观念。
采用描述性基于社区的横断面调查，使用研究者管理的问卷对加纳五个生态区的每个区的五个社区中随机抽取的 1364 名成年人进行调查，采用多阶段抽样程序。研究于 2019 年 12 月至 2020 年 3 月进行。
曾经使用 HMPs 的患病率为 76.5%，其中 73.0%的受访者在过去一年中使用过这些产品。近 60%的受访者报告使用了加纳食品和药物管理局注册的 HMPs。约 56.7%的受访者使用这些产品来治疗疾病。除性别外，所有社会人口学特征（年龄、宗教、婚姻状况、教育程度和就业状况）均与 HMPs 的使用显著相关（P<0.001）。对于 HMPs 的使用观念，被归类为接受、矛盾、漠不关心和怀疑的受访者比例分别为 14.3%、25.2%、47.5%和 13.07%。约 62.2%的研究参与者计划在未来使用 HMPs，69.1%的人愿意鼓励他人使用此类产品。然而，51.6%的参与者认为 HMPs 并不比传统产品更有效和安全。
加纳 HMPs 的使用率较高，因此建议制定适当的公共卫生政策，以改善这些产品的监管，并为加纳将 HMPs 纳入医疗保健系统提供基础。
