Investigation of knowledge and attitude of general physician of Busheher City (Iran) regarding herbal Medicine

Introduction: The prescription and use of herbal remedies is expanding today, given that general practioners are at the forefront of health care, the present study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of general practioners towards herbal remedies and the possible socio demo graphic factors associated with it, were designed and implanted. Methods: In a descriptive analytical survey study it was designed to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of general practioners working in Bushehr in the first 6 months of the year 98.the instrument used was a researcher made questionnaire whose validity and reliability were confirmed by content validity index method, content validity ratio, Kurder Richardson reliability coefficient method. The questionnaire was completed by physicians and their demographic characterizes were recorded. The data were presented descriptively and analyzed by SPSS software with appropriate statistical test. Results and Discussion: Mean knowledge level and attitude score of general practitioner studied were equal to76 ± 2/1 (out of total point 9), 16/33 ± 7/4 (out of total point 50) were obtained. Among the sociodemographic factors and physicians working background, physicians activity in government centers (p=0.04) and the use of credible source (p=0.006) were directly related to their knowledge. Also there was significant relationship between physician age (p=0.04, r =0.17), physician interest in prescribing herbal medicines (p<0.0001, r =0.42) and doctors use of herbal medicines (p<0.0001, r =0.39), doctors working experience (r =0.17, p<0.04) and the amount of prescription with herbal medicine (p<0.001, r =0.43). There was no significant relationship between physician s attitude and their knowledge. Conclusion: our study showed that general practitioners have an acceptable knowledge and attitude about herbal medicine. Doctors with more work experience have a better attitude toward herbal medicine and in fact this is consistent with their higher willingness to use and prescribe herbal medicine by them. Training and making available valid scientifically credible recourse can be one of the effective measures to modify physician’s attitude to wards herbal remedies. Further study in provinces and doctors with specialized tendencies can provide a clear picture

Keywords:

Herbal Medicines , Knowledge , Attitude , General Practitioners