Use of folk remedies among families of children hospitalised in Taiwan

Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19 Using Traditional and Folk Medicine: A Content Analysis Study

Background

Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory disease with no specific and definitive drug treatment. With the COVID-19 outbreak, traditional and folk methods were used for its treatment. This study was conducted to explore people's experiences of using traditional and folk medicine for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 in Iran.

Methods

This qualitative study was conducted on 37 people in Arak (Iran) from May to November 2020 using a conventional content analysis approach. The participants were selected using cluster sampling and interviewed using semistructured telephone interviews. After transcribing the interviews, they were analyzed using content analysis. Accordingly, semantic units were identified, related codes were extracted and placed in subcategories and categories based on similarities, and themes were formed. The interviews continued until data saturation.

Results

After analyzing the collected data, 116 different codes were extracted and classified into two subcategories of pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods. Then, each of the subcategories was classified into two categories: conventional medicine and traditional medicine. Finally, two main themes were obtained, including prevention methods and self-treatment methods for COVID-19.

Conclusion

People use various traditional and folk methods for COVID-19 prevention and treatment. Such methods can be either useful or lack the necessary effectiveness and have side effects. Thus, necessary training should be provided to the public about using these methods and avoiding unapproved treatments.

Traditional methods for managing illness in newborns and infants in an Arab society

AIM

This study explored self-management practices in relation to traditional methods for managing illness in newborns and infants and the implications of these practices on infant health.

BACKGROUND

Self-medication with folk remedies is believed to have short- and long-term impacts on well-being. Little is known about how mothers in Arab societies used their traditional beliefs and practices in self-managing their newborns' and infants' health.

METHODS

Data were collected from five focus groups using open-ended questions with 37 mothers. Participants were selected using snowball sampling and were recruited from four different cities in Jordan between June 2016 and August 2016.

ETHICAL APPROVAL

All identifying information regarding the study participants has been omitted, and this study was approved by the Academic Research Committee at the University of Jordan.

FINDINGS

Mothers were more willing to try herbal remedies, traditional massage and certain foods to self-manage their infants' health. Folk remedies were not restricted to traditions handed down through generations, but included a representation of newly emerged trends towards 'safety' or 'nature'.

CONCLUSIONS

While the use of folk remedies have been handed down generations as customs, today, virtual support groups and social media provide modern resources for folk remedies' promotion in care and self-management.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY

Nursing and health policymakers can use our findings for planning and developing strategies and health policies that increase public awareness about adverse health effects associated with herbal remedies. Such strategies are likely to be facilitated through partnerships between nursing and midwifery education institutions, antenatal clinics and social media in the region.

Culture, bathing and hydrotherapy in labor: An exploratory descriptive pilot study

OBJECTIVE

Though bathing (hydrotherapy) is widely used during labor to decrease anxiety and pain and to promote relaxation, the influence of cultural beliefs about bathing by parturients is virtually unknown. This pilot study explored pregnant women's experiences of bathing, bathing in labor, and cultural beliefs about bathing.

DESIGN

An exploratory, descriptive design.

SETTING

Low risk obstetrical clinics.

PARTICIPANTS

Healthy Hispanic, Black, White, American-Indian and Asian women (N = 41) at >37 weeks gestation.

METHODS

During a routine prenatal visit women responded to a brief openended questionnaire on the use of bathing. Data was captured using a modified ethnographic method involving observation and note taking with thematic analysis and quantification of percent response rates.

FINDINGS

Forty-six percent (N = 41) of women used bathing for purposes other than hygiene but only 4.9% (N = 41) of these women bathed during a previous labor. The women described bathing as relaxing, easing, calming, and efficacious for relief of menstrual cramps and labor contractions. Ten percent of women reported cultural beliefs about bathing.

CONCLUSIONS

Women who bathe, report relief of anxiety, menstrual and labor pain and promotion of mental and physical relaxation. The findings do not support the view that bathing is associated with identifiable cultural beliefs; rather, they suggest that bathing is a self-care measure used by women. This practice is likely transmitted from generation to generation by female elders through the oral tradition. Assumptions that race or ethnicity precludes the use of bathing may be faulty. Cautionary instructions should be given to pregnant women who are <37 completed weeks of gestation, to avoid bathing for relief of cramping or contractions and to seek immediate health care evaluation. Study of culturally intact groups may uncover additional themes related to bathing in labor and as a self-care measure for dysmenorrhea.

Patterns of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in children: a systematic review

Utilization of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among children/adolescents is popular. This review summarizes the international findings for prevalence and predictors of CAM use among children/adolescents. We therefore systematically searched four electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, AMED; last update in 07/2013) and reference lists of existing reviews and all included studies. Publications without language restriction reporting patterns of CAM utilization among children/adolescents without chronic conditions were selected for inclusion. The prevalence rates for overall CAM use, homeopathy, and herbal drug use were extracted with a focus on country and recall period (lifetime, 1 year, current use). As predictors, we extracted socioeconomic factors, child's age, and gender. The database search and citation tracking yielded 58 eligible studies from 19 countries. There was strong variation regarding study quality. Prevalence rates for overall CAM use ranged from 10.9-87.6 % for lifetime use and from 8-48.5 % for current use. The respective percentages for homeopathy (highest in Germany, United Kingdom, and Canada) ranged from 0.8-39 % (lifetime) and from 1-14.3 % (current). Herbal drug use (highest in Germany, Turkey, and Brazil) was reported for 0.8-85.5 % (lifetime) and 2.2-8.9 % (current) of the children/adolescents. Studies provided a relatively uniform picture of the predictors of overall CAM use (higher parental income and education, older children), but only a few studies analyzed predictors for single CAM modalities.

CONCLUSION

CAM use is widespread among children/adolescents. Prevalence rates vary widely regarding CAM modality, country, and reported recall period.

Characteristics of pediatric traditional Chinese medicine users in Taiwan: a nationwide cohort study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Traditional chinese medicine (TCM) is one of the most commonly used complementary and alternative medicines. However, there is a paucity of epidemiologic reports on features of pediatric TCM users. As TCM services are fully reimbursed by National Health Insurance in Taiwan, this study used a nationwide cohort database to investigate demographics, diseases patterns, and parents' characteristics of pediatric TCM users.

METHODS

Children aged <12 years were extracted from the National Health Insurance Research Database for analysis. These pediatric TCM users' demographics, medical conditions, and reasons for medical services were compared with users of Western medicine by Poisson regression. Children who did not use any medical services were excluded.

RESULTS

Of 107,337 children who were enrolled and followed up in 2005, 19,669 children (18.3%) used TCM. Compared with Western medicine-only users, school-age children (aged 6-12 years), preschool age children (3-5 years), and toddlers (1-2 years) were more likely to use TCM than infants (<1 year; rate ratio = 4.47, 3.66 and 2.59, respectively; P < .001 for all). Parental factors were associated with more TCM use, including female gender, age >35 years, past experience with TCM, and higher income levels. Allergic reactions and respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, and musculoskeletal problems were also associated with higher TCM use.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of TCM was correlated with both patient and parental factors, among which children's age and parental TCM use were the most prominent. Additional studies on the efficacy of TCM are warranted.

Association of distress symptoms and use of complementary medicine among patients with cancer

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between distress symptoms and the types of complementary and alternative medicine use in patients with cancer.

BACKGROUND

Patients diagnosed with cancer have increasingly turned to the use of complementary and alternative medicine to manage its symptoms and cope with the side effects of conventional treatment.

DESIGN

A descriptive cross-sectional study.

METHODS

A face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire was conducted with 208 outpatients at a medical centre in central Taiwan. The questionnaire included questions on socio-demographic information, disease specifics, distress symptoms and complementary and alternative medicine usage in the past 12 months. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between distress symptoms and the use of different complementary and alternative medicine modalities.

RESULTS

A total of 165 (79·3%) patients reported use of at least one complementary and alternative medicine modality during the past 12 months. Complementary and alternative medicine users and non-users were not significantly different in age, sex, marital status, education level, religious affiliation and disease-related variables. Fatigue (66·8%) was the most frequently reported symptoms and was significantly associated with complementary and alternative medicine use (OR = 14·11, p = 0·001). Regarding specific complementary and alternative medicine modalities, chanting and enzyme therapy were found to be associated with 13 (68·4%) of the 19 distress symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

There was no association between complementary and alternative medicine use and demographic or disease-related variables. Complementary and alternative medicine was widely used by patients with cancer, and symptom of fatigue was most strongly associated with complementary and alternative medicine use. Chanting and enzyme therapy were the two most frequently used complementary and alternative medicine modalities that were significantly associated with the 19 distress symptoms.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Health care providers should ask their patients about their complementary and alternative medicine use to avoid possible adverse interactions between conventional treatment and complementary and alternative medicine interventions, in particular, those remedies that are likely to interact with cancer medications.