A Preliminary Report on Herbal Medicine Use Among Patients Hospitalized at Two-Large COVID-19 Treatment Centers in Uganda
Phillip Musoke,1 Jerom Okot,2 Vivien Nanfuka,3 Pius Rwamafa,4 Joseph Masajjage,3 Ivan Kisuule,4 Brandy Nantaayi,1 Nelson Ssewante,1 Felix Bongomin1,2 1School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda; 2Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of...
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| Formato: | article |
| Lenguaje: | EN |
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Dove Medical Press
2021
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| Acceso en línea: | https://doaj.org/article/59024eb651fc4de79a8bd316074c0025 |
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| Sumario: | Phillip Musoke,1 Jerom Okot,2 Vivien Nanfuka,3 Pius Rwamafa,4 Joseph Masajjage,3 Ivan Kisuule,4 Brandy Nantaayi,1 Nelson Ssewante,1 Felix Bongomin1,2 1School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda; 2Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda; 3Department of Internal Medicine, Kiruddu National Referral Hospital, Kampala, Uganda; 4Department of Internal Medicine, Mulago National Referral Hospital, Kampala, UgandaCorrespondence: Felix BongominDepartment of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Gulu University, P. O. Box, 166, Gulu, UgandaEmail drbongomin@gmail.comIntroduction: 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.Methods: 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 U-test for numerical were used to determine the association between dependent and independent variables.Results: 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).Conclusion: 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.Keywords: COVID-19, prevalence, herbal medicine use, Uganda |
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