IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i9p4688-d545077.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Commonly Utilized Natural Products during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Sina M. AlNajrany

    (Chronic Disease Prevention Centre, Saudi Ministry of Health, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
    The first and last authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Yousif Asiri

    (Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia)

  • Ibrahim Sales

    (Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia)

  • Yazed AlRuthia

    (Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
    Pharmacoeconomics Research Unit, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
    The first and last authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

Objectives: The utilization rate of herbal and dietary supplements among the Saudi population is reported to be high. However, the utilization rate and types of herbal and dietary supplements during the COVID-19 pandemic are largely unknown. Methods: This was an online questionnaire-based cross-sectional study that used convenience sampling and social media platforms (Telegram ® , Twitter ® , and WhatsApp ® ) to disseminate a 12-item questionnaire across the Saudi general public aged 18 years and above. The questionnaire inquired about the sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, education, geographical location), presence of chronic health conditions and the use of prescription medications, awareness of the viral nature of COVID-19 infection and its common symptoms, and the commonly utilized herbal and/or dietary supplements. Results: Sixty-four percent of the 1473 participants reported using herbal and/or dietary supplements for the purpose of boosting their immune system to prevent COVID-19 infection. In addition, 88.2% of the respondents were misinformed about the manifestation of COVID-19 symptoms. Most of the participants were Saudi (91.9%), aged 49 years and younger (83%), female (52%), and healthy (81%). Honey (46%), lemon (45%), ginger (36%), vitamin C (32%), black seed (26%), garlic (26%), and turmeric (19%) were the most commonly used herbal and/or dietary supplements by the participants. Saudi nationals (OR = 1.67, 95% CI: 1.08 to 2.6, p = 0.02), older adults (OR = 1.30, 95% CI:1.10 to 1.55, p = 0.002), and those taking prescription medications had higher odds of using dietary and/or herbal supplements (OR = 3.31, 95% CI: 2.61 to 4.18, p < 0.0001). Conclusion: The utilization rate of herbal and dietary supplements among the Saudi public during the COVID-19 pandemic is high. Future studies should examine the impact of different public awareness campaigns aimed at improving the public knowledge of the risk and benefits associated with the use of different commonly utilized herbal and dietary products identified in this study.

Suggested Citation

  • Sina M. AlNajrany & Yousif Asiri & Ibrahim Sales & Yazed AlRuthia, 2021. "The Commonly Utilized Natural Products during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-11, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:9:p:4688-:d:545077
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4688/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4688/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Georgia-Eirini Deligiannidou & Chrysoula Kyrgou & Evangelia Nena & Vangelis G. Manolopoulos & Eugenia Bezirtzoglou & Christos A. Kontogiorgis & Theodoros C. Constantinidis, 2022. "Use of Edible, Medicinal, and Aromatic Plants in Various Health Disorders: A Cross-Sectional Evaluation among Inhabitants in the Area of Thrace, North-Eastern Greece," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-18, October.
    2. Zorica Stanojević-Ristić & Isidora Mrkić & Aleksandar Ćorac & Mirjana Dejanović & Radoslav Mitić & Leonida Vitković & Julijana Rašić & Dragana Valjarević & Aleksandar Valjarević, 2022. "Healthcare Professionals’ Knowledge and Behaviors Regarding Drug–Dietary Supplement and Drug–Herbal Product Interactions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-14, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:9:p:4688-:d:545077. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.