Factors Affecting the Intensity of the Use of Medicinal Plants in Minasatene Resort, Bantimurung-Bulusaraung National Park, South Sulawesi: A Case Study in Indonesia

Abstract

Medicinal plants are believed to have the ability to both cure disease and maintain health and have been used by humans for a long time. The intensity of the use of medicinal plants can be influenced by community characteristics and supporting factors such as economic, social, and others. Data were collected using structured interview questionnaire from 210 respondents. The data recorded is: 1. How frequently did they use medicinal plants); 2. Information about respondents' characteristics consist of gender, age, marital status, educational level, occupation, and monthly income; 3. Preference of the Community for Type of Treatment and Reason for Preference of medicin; 4. Factors that affect the intensity of the use of medicinal plants consist of the effectiveness of medicinal plants,the price of modern medicine, side effects of modern medicine, distance of health facilities, participation in health insurance, a history of disease, frequency of illness, and average duration of illness.At the intensity of the use of medicinal plants in the community of Minasatene Resort, as much as 31.9% used medicinal plants at least once a year. The variables that had a significant relationship with the intensity of the use of medicinal plants were the effectiveness of medicinal plants against disease (p = 0.000), the presence of side effects of modern medicine (p = 0.035), a history of disease (p = 0.007), and the average duration of each time period sick (p = 0.028).