Traditional and complementary medicine use and beliefs during COVID-19 outbreak: A cross-sectional survey among the general population in Turkey

Yusuf Karataş; Zakir Khan; Çağrı Bilen; Aslı Boz; Ezgi Sena Gören Özagil; Ayşe Büşra Abussuutoğlu; Hazir Rahman

doi:10.1016/j.aimed.2021.09.002

Traditional and complementary medicine use and beliefs during COVID-19 outbreak: A cross-sectional survey among the general population in Turkey

Adv Integr Med. 2021 Dec;8(4):261-266. doi: 10.1016/j.aimed.2021.09.002. Epub 2021 Sep 20.

Authors

Yusuf Karataş¹, Zakir Khan¹, Çağrı Bilen¹, Aslı Boz², Ezgi Sena Gören Özagil¹, Ayşe Büşra Abussuutoğlu¹, Hazir Rahman³

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicines, Department of Pharmacology, Cukurova University, Saricam, Adana, Turkey.
² Department of Medical Education, Çukurova University, Saricam, Adana, Turkey.
³ Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Chemical and Life Sciences, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan (AWKUM), Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Abstract

Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused a universal psychosocial impact, with many individuals exposed to threats preferring to try self-care interventions and non-conventional approaches such as traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) for preventive purposes. This study was conducted to determine the use of and beliefs about T&CM among a subset of the general Turkish population during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Method: A cross-sectional online survey was carried out among the general population (aged ≥ 18 years) of Adana, Turkey during the strict lockdown period (April 11 to April 30, 2020). The survey instrument included details about sociodemographic characteristics, general information, T&CM use and beliefs. It was distributed among eligible participants via social media channels (Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook accounts).

Results: Out of a total 389 participants, 39.3% (n = 153) used T&CM and 60.7% were non-T&CM users during COVID-19. Of those using T&CM, 61 (39.8%) reported the usage of more than one form of T&CM, mostly herbal medicine (30.8%), followed by nutritional supplements/vitamins (23.8%). 33.9% (n = 52) of participants using T&CM did not report T&CM use to theirmedical physicians. A statistically significant difference was observed between T&CM users and non-T&CM users in gender, age, marital status, level of education, income, and prior use of T&CM (p < 0.05). Social media (n = 204; 52.4%) was the primary source of information for T&CM use. Overall, 33.7%, 54.8% and 39% of participants in this stduy believed that T&CM therapies are effective, have fever side-effects/safe and should be use for COVID-19, respectively.

Conclusion: During the outbreak of COVID-19, a significant proportion of the population reported the use of T&CM, with different beliefs about T&CM being observed. Better-structured T&CM-specific educational programs, enhanced physician-patient communication and access to reliable information are needed to ensure appropriate T&CM use during pandemics in Turkey.

Keywords: COVID-19; General population; Survey; Traditional and complementary medicine; Turkey.