Situational diagnosis of the popular use of medicinal plants in pediatrics.

C J Freire,P R B Miranda,A F Santos,J G Costa,R G A Santos

doi:10.1590/1519-6984.230005

Abstract

This study aimed to describe the use of medicinal plants for the relief and treatment of pediatrics pathologies performed by parents of children registered in a Basic Health Unit. This is a cross-sectional, observational and analytical study that occurred from March until May 2016, with the participation of 176 individuals, using a semi-structured questionnaire as a research instrument. Descriptive statistics were applied for data analysis, using frequency distribution and chi-square test. Among all 177 indications of medicinal use of plants in childhood, considering the plant part and administration method, 61.6% converged with scientific data, 21.5% differed and 16.9% were new indications without a similar record in the literature. These results support the popular use of medicinal plants and show to need for greater awareness about the rational use of phytotherapy and stimulate scientific research, as they bring new elements about the therapeutic potential of different species.

Highlights

The use of plants for medicinal purposes is part of the culture of different populations (Badke et al, 2016), and employed in relief and treatment of symptoms in childhood, with reports of early use in infants (Silva et al, 2020)
This study aimed to describe the use of medicinal plants for the relief and treatment of pediatrics pathologies performed by parents of children registered in a Basic Health Unit
This study aimed to describe the use of medicinal plants for the relief and treatment of pediatrics pathology in a community of a Basic Health Unit (BHU)

Summary

Introduction

The use of plants for medicinal purposes is part of the culture of different populations (Badke et al, 2016), and employed in relief and treatment of symptoms in childhood, with reports of early use in infants (Silva et al, 2020). Because it is considered a natural treatment, many consider it risk-free, which makes the population susceptible to severe adverse events due to the indiscriminate use of this therapeutic resource (Alcantara et al, 2015; Silva and Oliveira, 2018). Different researches indicate the lack of knowledge of the population and health professionals about the prescribed dosage, contraindications, side effects and dangers of the interaction of different species of popular use with allopathic drugs, taking this millennial tradition to discredit (Veiga-Junior, 2008; Nascimento et al, 2017)

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