The prevalence of herbal medicine home use and concomitant use with pharmaceutical medicines in Jamaica

Ethnopharmacological relevance

The work described in this paper aimed to study the prevalence of herbal medicine use in treating illness and concomitant use with pharmaceutical medicines in Jamaica.

Materials and methods

A survey using a structured questionnaire was administered by a trained interviewer to randomly selected adults in systematically selected households within randomly selected urban and rural clusters. Categorical data analysis was performed using Stata version 10 software.

Results

91.4% (372/407) of selected people agreed to participate. 72.6% (270/372) self-medicated with herbs within the previous year. Commonly treated were illnesses of the respiratory system (RS, 77.8% (210/270)), gastro-intestinal tract (GIT, 53.3% (144/270)) and health maintenance using tonics (29.6% (80/270)). 26.7% (72/270) of respondents used pharmaceuticals concomitantly with medicinal plants. Commonly treated were illnesses of the RS (20.4% (55/270)), GIT (13.7% (37/270)) and hypertension (10.0%(27/270)). 19.4% (14/72) of physicians knew of such practices. There was significant association of herb use with/without drugs with age (p < 0.001), employment status (p < 0.001), religion (p = 0.004), gender (p = 0.02) and educational level (p = 0.031). Thus prevalence of herb use alone was greatest amongst people aged 35-44 and 45-54 years; those employed; Rastafarians; those without health insurance; males and people who had completed secondary education. Whilst prevalence of concomitant herb-drug use was greater amongst people aged 65 years and older; those retired; those of religions other than Rastafarians and Christians, females and people who had attained primary education and below.

Conclusions

Self-medication with herbs in Jamaica is highly prevalent and highest for self-limiting conditions of the RS, GIT and health maintenance with tonics. Concomitant herb and drug use is highest for self-limiting conditions of the RS, GIT and hypertension, and the use of combined therapy highlights the need for investigations on potential drug-herb interactions. Physicians have limited awareness and knowledge of such concomitant usage, further highlighting the need for increased dialogue with patients, knowledge of medicinal plants and their uses and a heightened pharmacovigilance to avoid adversities that may arise from potential drug-herb interactions.