Use of traditional medicine among type 2 diabetic Libyans

Abstract

The use of traditional medicines is common among patients with chronic illnesses and this practice might pose health risks. The use among Libyan patients with diabetes is unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence of traditional medicine use in the previous year among Libyans with type 2 diabetes and to examine the association between its use and sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted at a large diabetes centre in Tripoli. A self-reported questionnaire was used for data collection. Of the 523 respondents, 28.9% used traditional remedies. Sex was the only variable significantly associated with traditional medicine use; more women used traditional medicines (P = 0.01). A total of 77 traditional medicine items were reported to be used, of which herbs were the most common. The use of traditional medicine for diabetes is prevalent and some of the reported items could pose health risks. Health education programmes are suggested to raise the awareness of the health risks of this practice. RÉSUMÉ L'utilisation à la médecine traditionnelle est courante parmi les patients souffrant de maladies chroniques et cette pratique peut entraîner des risques pour la santé. On ignore dans quelle mesure les patients diabétiques libyens y ont recours. La présente étude avait pour objectif d'estimer la prévalence de l'utilisation de la médecine traditionnelle au cours de l'année précédente chez des patients libyens atteints de diabète de type 2, ainsi que d'examiner l'association entre cette utilisation et les caractéristiques socio-démographiques et cliniques des patients. Une étude transversale a été conduite dans un grand centre de traitement du diabète à Tripoli. Un questionnaire auto-déclaré a été utilisé pour la collecte de données. Sur les 523 répondants, 28,9 % prenaient des remèdes traditionnels. Le sexe des individus était la seule variable associée de façon significative à l'utilisation de la médecine traditionnelle, un plus grand nombre de femmes y ayant recours (p = 0,01). Un total de 77 produits de médecine traditionnelle ont été déclarés, les plus courants étant les plantes. L'utilisation de la médecine traditionnelle pour traiter le diabète est prévalente, et certains des produits rapportés peuvent constituer des risques pour la santé. Il est suggéré de mettre au point des programmes d'éducation sanitaire afin de sensibiliser la population aux risques que cette pratique représente pour la santé. ‫الثاين‬

Traditional Medicine Use among Type 2 Diabetes Patients in KZN

“…e CAM usage prevalence rates vary by country and region in patients with T2DM [43,44]. Our findings are comparable with studies conducted in Libya, Saudi Arabia, USA, Lebanon, and India, countries that also yielded low prevalence estimates (29%, 26%, 26%, 38%, and 30%, respectively) [44][45][46][47][48]. In contrast, the prevalence estimates of CAM use among T2DM patients were higher in Tanzania (78%), Sri Lanka (76%), and Malaysia (63%) [16,22,24].…”

“…It is important that friends and family are involved in diabetes education counseling regarding the efficacy and potential side effects of CAM use [22]. A small number of participants in the cohort included in this study use TM as referred by their healthcare professionals (6.06%), which corresponds with other reports [47,88]. Radwan et al [49] reported that only one in four patients inform their treating physician about the use of CAM, while Hernandez-Tejada et al [88]highlight a lack of communication with 8…”

Prevalence and predictors of using complementary and alternative medicine among diabetic patients in Taif city, Saudi Arabia

“…Affordability of CAM was also established to motivate their use. [ 28 ] T2DM,[ 29 ] lower education,[ 24 ] and female gender[ 30 ] were established factors associated with CAM use. The findings from our investigation certainly confirm such an association in Saudi society.…”

Global prevalence and types of complementary and alternative medicines use amongst adults with diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis

“…A study in Australia reported a prevalence of 8%, but the study gathered data from patients about their visits to CAM practitioners only and did not include data on CAM use in general by patients with diabetes [44]. Other studies reporting the lowest prevalence of CAM use included studies in Libya (29%), Saudi Arabia (26%), USA (26%), Israel (23%) and Jordan (17%) [15,26,29,43,52]. Pooled prevalence of CAM use was 51% (95%CI 43%, 59%).…”