Consumption of herbals during pregnancy in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM): a one month observation in 2008
2009
Nur Amalina N. | Hasmah A.
Worldwide prevalence of herbal medicine consumption during pregnancy is ranging from 7 to 36% regardless of uncertain safety and scientific proofs of efficacy. Currently, there are limited studies on the prevalence of herbal consumption during pregnancy among Malaysian women. The aim of this study is to investigate the pattern of herbal consumption and its association with educational status and total household income among 84 pregnant women who attended the Obstetric and Gynecology Clinic of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia from January to February 2008. An adapted structure and modified based questionnaire on Malaysian customs was used. Statistical analysis was performed with the level of confidence 95% (a=0.05). Approximately 10.7% of pregnant women consumed herbals during pregnancy. The characteristics of pregnant women who used herbals in this study are tertiary education, high total household income, married with an age range from 30 to 39 years old. There was no significant association between educational status (p=0.79) and total household income (p=0.439) towards herbal consumption in pregnant women. As a conclusion, information obtained could provide the preliminary data to conduct a periodical study in assessing patterns of herbal consl1mption among pregnant women through out the nation. It is predicted that the pattern could increase regardless of safety and efficacy issues since there were increasing number of herbal products in the market. Health care professionals should be aware of the types of herbal consumption by pregnant women in particular those lacking scientific data for safety and efficacy.
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