Awareness of herbal products among students at local university in Malaysia
Purpose: Herbal medicines are the most common type of traditional and complementary medicines (T & CM). T & CM have been used to diagnose and prevent diseases, restore the body’s function, and maintain or improve health. Malaysia has different ethnic groups with different beliefs an...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/101332/1/International%20Coneference%20on%20Integrative%20Medicine%202021.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/101332/ |
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| Summary: | Purpose: Herbal medicines are the most common type of traditional and complementary
medicines (T & CM). T & CM have been used to diagnose and prevent diseases, restore
the body’s function, and maintain or improve health. Malaysia has different ethnic groups
with different beliefs and cultures. For the three dominant races, Malay, Chinese and
Indian, traditional and herbal medicines are a long-standing practice. Hence, there is a
common perception that the use of herbal products is better than the commercially
available pharmaceutical drugs, which are deemed to contain harmful chemicals and have
adverse side effects. This study aims to determine consumer’s usage of herbal products and
the respondent’s perception of these product’s safety and efficacy.
Method: A cross-sectional survey was performed using a self-administered questionnaire
on a sample of 377 from different ethnic groups. Chi-square, Mann Whitney, Kruskal
Wallis and Spearman correlation were applied for data analysis.
Result: This study found significant differences in perception among the respondents from
different ethnic backgrounds. Of 300 herbal product (np) users, Chinese (n=210)
respondents are likely to consume natural products compare to Malay (n=54), ‘Others’
(n=34) and Indian (n=32). Malay respondents have a higher perception towards the safety
of the products while Chinese respondents that herbal products might have lower
nutritional value. Lastly, Indian respondents perceive that it is safer to consume natural
products after consulting physicians and disagree that herbal products are more effective
than conventional medicines.
Conclusion: This study’s findings could help policymakers and health service providers to
understand the pattern of herbal product consumption among Malaysians. |
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