ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused a universal psychosocial impact, with many individuals exposed to threats preferring to try self-care interventions and non-conventional approaches such as traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) for preventive purposes. This study was conducted to determine the use of and beliefs about T&CM among a subset of the general Turkish population during the COVID-19 outbreak. METHOD: A cross-sectional online survey was carried out among the general population (aged ≥ 18 years) of Adana, Turkey during the strict lockdown period (April 11 to April 30, 2020). The survey instrument included details about sociodemographic characteristics, general information, T&CM use and beliefs. It was distributed among eligible participants via social media channels (Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook accounts). RESULTS: Out of a total 389 participants, 39.3% (n = 153) used T&CM and 60.7% were non-T&CM users during COVID-19. Of those using T&CM, 61 (39.8%) reported the usage of more than one form of T&CM, mostly herbal medicine (30.8%), followed by nutritional supplements/vitamins (23.8%). 33.9% (n = 52) of participants using T&CM did not report T&CM use to theirmedical physicians. A statistically significant difference was observed between T&CM users and non-T&CM users in gender, age, marital status, level of education, income, and prior use of T&CM (p < 0.05). Social media (n = 204; 52.4%) was the primary source of information for T&CM use. Overall, 33.7%, 54.8% and 39% of participants in this stduy believed that T&CM therapies are effective, have fever side-effects/safe and should be use for COVID-19, respectively. CONCLUSION: During the outbreak of COVID-19, a significant proportion of the population reported the use of T&CM, with different beliefs about T&CM being observed. Better-structured T&CM-specific educational programs, enhanced physician-patient communication and access to reliable information are needed to ensure appropriate T&CM use during pandemics in Turkey.
ABSTRACT
The World Health Organization (WHO) called the outbreak of coronavirus infectious disease-2019 (COVID-19) a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" (PHEIC). According to the WHO, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), currently there are no medicines or vaccines that have been claimed to be useful in the prevention or treatment of COVID-19. Several existing antiviral drugs, previously developed or used as treatments for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and malaria, are being investigated as COVID-19 treatments and some of them are being used in clinical trials. According to the CDC and Chinese treatment guidelines for COVID-19, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir, and one of the investigational agents (remdesivir) are recommended in critically ill older patients. The use of other potential drugs reported in different studies may be considered if treatment with first-line drugs is ineffective. There are currently no complete data available from large randomized clinical trials (RCTs) to provide clinical guidance on the use, dosing, or duration to validate the effective role, safety profile, and adverse effects of all of the trial drugs for prophylaxis or treatment of COVID-19. Until now, it is still unclear which drug can successfully fight against the disease. Therefore, for the better safety of patients with COVID-19, further clinical trials and large randomized controlled studies are needed to validate the effective role, safety profile, and adverse effects of all the potential drugs. Such a measure requires action at the global level.