Kretchy Irene A, Boadu Joseph A, Kretchy James-Paul, Agyabeng Kofi, Passah Alfred A, Koduah Augustina, Opuni Kwabena F M
Department of Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG43, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG43, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Prev Med Rep. 2021 Dec;24:101633. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101633. Epub 2021 Nov 9.
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is widespread and has played critical roles in preventing infections, including previous coronaviruses. This study sought to document current practices in the use of CAM for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in Ghana. An anonymous electronic survey was conducted from February 1, 2021 to April 30, 2021. Data on demographic characteristics, basic clinical information, illness perceptions about COVID-19, and CAM use during the pandemic period were generated. While about 82.5% (986/1195) of the participants used CAM during the COVID-19 period, 69.1% (681/986) of CAM users intented it for COVID-19 infection prevention. Vitamin supplements (88.1%, 869/986), spiritual healing/prayer (23.3%, 230/986), mineral supplements (22.3%, 220/986), botanical/herbal medicines (22.2%, 219/986), and diet therapy (19.4%, 191/986) were the main types of CAM used. From the adjusted binary logistic regression model, current age (aOR: 1.03, 95%CI: 1.01-1.05), sex (aOR: 1.41, 95%CI: 1.02-1.95), participants' perceptions of consequences (aOR: 1.10, 95%CI: 1.04-1.17), identity (aOR: 1.15, 95%CI: 1.06-1.25) and concerns about COVID-19 (aOR: 0.91, 95%CI: 0.85-0.97) were statistically significant predictors of CAM use. These results suggest the need for appropriate public health policy on COVID-19 and CAM use in addition to directing further research initiatives toward an optimized COVID-19 prevention scheme using clinically validated CAM treatments. Research to validate the clinical efficacy of these products, especially the herbs, for COVID-19 prevention while isolating lead compounds that could be optimized and used for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 is also recommended.
补充和替代医学（CAM）的使用很普遍，并且在预防包括既往冠状病毒在内的感染方面发挥了关键作用。本研究旨在记录加纳使用补充和替代医学预防2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的当前做法。于2021年2月1日至2021年4月30日进行了一项匿名电子调查。收集了关于人口统计学特征、基本临床信息、对COVID-19的疾病认知以及大流行期间补充和替代医学使用情况的数据。在COVID-19期间，约82.5%（986/1195）的参与者使用了补充和替代医学，其中69.1%（681/986）的补充和替代医学使用者旨在预防COVID-19感染。维生素补充剂（88.1%，869/986）、精神治疗/祈祷（23.3%，230/986）、矿物质补充剂（22.3%，220/986）、植物/草药（22.2%，219/986）和饮食疗法（19.4%，191/986）是所使用的补充和替代医学的主要类型。从调整后的二元逻辑回归模型来看，当前年龄（调整后比值比：1.03，95%置信区间：1.01 - 1.05）、性别（调整后比值比：1.41，95%置信区间：1.02 - 1.95）、参与者对后果的认知（调整后比值比：1.10，95%置信区间：1.04 - 1.17）、身份（调整后比值比：1.15，95%置信区间：1.06 - 1.25）以及对COVID-19的担忧（调整后比值比：0.91，95%置信区间：0.85 - 0.97）是补充和替代医学使用的统计学显著预测因素。这些结果表明，除了将进一步的研究计划导向使用经过临床验证的补充和替代医学治疗方法的优化COVID-19预防方案外，还需要制定关于COVID-19和补充和替代医学使用的适当公共卫生政策。还建议开展研究以验证这些产品，尤其是草药，预防COVID-19的临床疗效，同时分离出可优化并用于治疗和预防COVID-19的先导化合物。
