Herbal medicine: affecting factors and prevalence of use among Thai population in Bangkok

Remarkable growth in use of herbal medicines has recently been noted. In Thailand, eight items of herbal medicines with single composition are currently placed on the National List of Essential Medicines (EM). This study was to clarify the actual state of factors affecting the usage and knowledge of these herbal medicines, as the study concerning with these aspects was infrequently performed. A descriptive and cross-sectional research was conducted by using self-administered questionnaires. Six hundred and thirty-one subjects were randomly sampling and the data were analyzed by the Statistic Package for the Social Sciences software program. The finding revealed that 28.6% of total subjects had experienced on herbal medicine treatment, especially eight items listed in EM. The elderly and government officers usually purchased the drugs from hospital and drugstore, while housewife purchased them from supermarket. Subjects with positive attitude towards herbal medicine use usually were government officers. Almost all of herbal medicines were well-known about their indications by less than 55% of total subjects. Among all well-known indications, the relief of gastric distress by Zingiber officinale was the most well-known one (73.2%). On the other hand, high percentage of media exposure (55-70%) was found in majority of the subjects which indicated that media was more likely to influence consumer's knowledge and behavior. Only 28.6% of total subjects had experienced on herbal medicines listed in EM, despite of high percentage of media exposure. Therefore, the providing proper information of herbal medicines on various medias and integrated education about herbal medicine in medical curricula could effectively help increase appropriate drug use and consumers' safety.