Investigation of mad honey use as an alternative treatment in patients admitted to the pulmonary clinic: Ordu, Turkey example

ABSTRACT

Abstract This study assessed mad honey use in alternative treatments. The universe of this descriptive study was patients admitted to the pulmonary disease clinic located in the Ordu province of the Black Sea region between 15 December 2014 and 15 February 2015. We did not use a sampling method and patients who agreed to participate were included in the study (n=353). In order to collect the data, we used a questionnaire prepared by the researchers. In this study, 77% of the participants stated that mad honey was beneficial to health, 44.5% used mad honey, and 53.5% consumed it daily. Furthermore, 28.7% used mad honey for asthma, 6.4% for cough, 12.1% for gastrointestinal diseases, and 3.2% for hypertension. There was a significant relationship between the gender, family structure, age, and chronic disease status of participants and the status of consuming mad honey (p<0.05). In this study, participants used mad honey for asthma, gastrointestinal diseases, hypertension, and cough. Health professionals should provide training and counseling on the health effects and risks of mad honey to improve public health.