ABSTRACT

Background Historically, medicinal plants have played an important role in healthcare maintenance as it been used by man to treat illnesses from ancient times and are one of the oldest means of disease treatment used by man. The primary aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, usage pattern and determinants of current herbal medicine use among adults in Enugu, Nigeria.

Methods A questionnaire based cross-sectional study was conducted among adults in Enugu metropolis. 500 adults aged 18 years and above in the randomly selected households were sampled with an interviewer administered questionnaire. The questionnaire asked about demographics, herbal and conventional medicine use and communication about herbal medicine use.

Results The prevalence of current herbal use was 53.6%. Socio-demographic predictors of current herbal medicine use included the male sex (OR 2.4, P=0.0321) and occupation (P=0.0004). Malaria and genital infection were the commonest illnesses treated with family and friends served as the commonest source of referral while market sellers were the commonest providers of herbal medicine.Liquid herbalmixture was the commonest form of herbal medicine used while drinking was the commonest route of administration. Among users, side effect awareness was low at 50.2% and 11% reported side effect with diarrhea as the commonest side effect. Socio-demographic predictors of side-effect awareness was age, education and occupation.