HERBAL MEDICINE: A SURVEY ON THE KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF MEDICAL STUDENTS IN TAMALE, GHANA

Abstract

There is an increasing usage of herbal remedies worldwide. To adequately manage safety issues associated with herbal medicines, the future physician must possess good knowledge of them. Medical students of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th year classes, totaling 284 completed a questionnaire in a cross-sectional study which assessed their knowledge and attitude towards herbal medicines. Data was analyzed using SPSS 18 and GraphPad 5.01. The respondents had good attitude (3.365 ± 1.069/5 or 67.9%) but poor knowledge (4.697 ± 3.509/16.5, or 28.5%). Advancing years of study had a significant effect on the students’ overall knowledge of herbal medicine (p = 0.01). Majority of the students, 54.7% ever used herbal product with 77.5% of the users getting positive outcome of the treatment. The best known and used herb was the Neem plant (Azadirachta indica) used by most students to treat malaria. Although with limited knowledge, the medical students showed a high level of personal use and good attitude towards herbal medicines. Introduction of herbal medicine course in their medical curriculum should increase their knowledge and attitude so they could in the future adequately manage patients who used or intend to use herbal products together with the orthodox medicines.