Alotiby Amna, Alshareef Maram
Department of Hematology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Community Medicine and Pilgrims Health, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
J Multidiscip Healthc. 2021 Dec 24;14:3523-3532. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S343140. eCollection 2021.
Herbal medicine is commonly used for symptom relief and treatment because of its availability and lack of prescription regulation. However, the use of herbs is associated with adverse effects, drug interaction, and sometimes life-threatening complications. During the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, herbs were used when modern medicine failed to treat or immunize people against the virus in its early course. Although trials are still ongoing, herbal medicine was recommended for COVID-19 in Eastern countries based on expert consensus.
A descriptive web-based anonymous survey was created and distributed online all-over Saudi Arabia to gather information on commonly used herbs, knowledge, and attitude towards them among general population (GP) and health care workers (HCWs).
Although the use of natural products was high among the GP, both groups used similar herbs, reflecting cultural traditions and beliefs. However, the GP had better knowledge about and attitudes toward the use of herbal medicine than HCWs did.
Mental exhaustion during the COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of research-based evidence might influence HCWs' trust in and knowledge about herbal medicine. Therefore, research and educational courses on herbal medicine for all medical practitioners are needed for proper patient counseling to reduce risk and ensure patient safety.
草药因其可得性和缺乏处方监管而常用于缓解症状和治疗。然而，草药的使用与不良反应、药物相互作用以及有时危及生命的并发症相关。在冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间，当现代医学在早期无法治疗或使人们对该病毒产生免疫时，人们使用了草药。尽管试验仍在进行中，但基于专家共识，东方国家推荐将草药用于COVID-19的治疗。
开展了一项基于网络的描述性匿名调查，并在沙特阿拉伯全国范围内在线分发，以收集普通人群（GP）和医护人员（HCWs）中常用草药的信息、对草药的了解及态度。
尽管普通人群中天然产品的使用率很高，但两组使用的草药相似，这反映了文化传统和信仰。然而，普通人群对草药使用的了解和态度比医护人员更好。
COVID-19大流行期间的精神疲惫以及缺乏基于研究的证据可能会影响医护人员对草药的信任和了解。因此，需要为所有执业医生开展关于草药的研究和教育课程，以便进行适当的患者咨询，降低风险并确保患者安全。
