Musoke Phillip, Okot Jerom, Nanfuka Vivien, Rwamafa Pius, Masajjage Joseph, Kisuule Ivan, Nantaayi Brandy, Ssewante Nelson, Bongomin Felix
School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda.
Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2021 Nov 12;14:4609-4617. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S339408. eCollection 2021.
Herbal medication use among patients with COVID-19 imposes a significant risk of drug-herbal interactions and adverse events. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with herbal medicine use among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 attending two large COVID-19 Treatment Units (CTU) in Uganda.
A hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted recruiting patients with COVID-19 hospitalized at the Mulago National Referral Hospital and Namboole Stadium CTUs. Chi-square or Fishers' exact test for categorical and Mann-Whitney -test for numerical were used to determine the association between dependent and independent variables.
The study was terminated early because of significant reduction in the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and the closure of Namboole CTU. Of the anticipated 422 participants, we recruited 108 (25.6%). Of this, 58 (53.7%) were female, with a median age of 38 (range: 20-75) years. Forty-nine (45.4%) had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Fifty-eight (57.3%) of the participants had ever used herbal medicine and the majority had used them in the past 12 months (71.9%, n = 41) either before the diagnosis of COVID-19 (85.4%, n = 35) or after (36.6%, n = 15). Being vaccinated for COVID-19 (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 3.1, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.4-6.8, p = 0.005) and having attained tertiary level of education (aOR: 6.2, 95% CI: 1.7-23.1, p = 0.006), as well as the accessibility to herbalists (aOR: 31.2, 95% CI: 3.7-263.2, p = 0.002) were significantly associated with herbal medication use. The majority of participants reported some improvement after using herbal medicine (80.7%, n = 46) and their doctors or nurses asked almost half of the participants about herbal medicine use (49.5%, n = 53).
The use of herbal medicines to treat or prevent COVID-19 among hospitalized patients is a widespread practice in Uganda amidst unpublished evidence of their safety and efficacy.
新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）患者使用草药会带来显著的药物-草药相互作用风险和不良事件。本研究旨在评估在乌干达两家大型COVID-19治疗单位（CTU）住院的COVID-19患者中使用草药的患病率及相关因素。
在穆拉戈国家转诊医院和纳姆布勒体育场CTU对住院的COVID-19患者进行了一项基于医院的描述性横断面研究。采用卡方检验或费舍尔精确检验分析分类变量，采用曼-惠特尼检验分析数值变量，以确定因变量和自变量之间的关联。
由于COVID-19住院患者数量显著减少以及纳姆布勒CTU关闭，研究提前终止。预期招募422名参与者，实际招募了108名（25.6%）。其中，58名（53.7%）为女性，中位年龄为38岁（范围：20 - 75岁）。49名（45.4%）患者至少接种过一剂COVID-19疫苗。58名（57.3%）参与者曾使用过草药，大多数在过去12个月内使用过（71.9%，n = 41），其中在COVID-19诊断前使用的占85.4%（n = 35），诊断后使用的占36.6%（n = 15）。接种COVID-19疫苗（调整比值比（aOR）：3.1，95%置信区间（CI）：1.4 - 6.8，p = 0.005）、达到高等教育水平（aOR：6.2，95%CI：1.7 - 23.1，p = 0.006）以及能接触到草药医生（aOR：31.2，95%CI：3.7 - 263.2，p = 0.002）与使用草药显著相关。大多数参与者报告使用草药后有一定改善（80.7%，n = 46），且医生或护士询问了近一半参与者关于草药使用的情况（49.5%，n = 53）。
在乌干达，住院患者使用草药治疗或预防COVID-19是一种普遍做法，但其安全性和有效性尚无公开证据。
