Herbal remedies and the self-treatment of stress: An Italian survey
| Autor: | Cinzia Aurilia, Davide Lubian, Marco Testa, Marina Gasparini |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
education.field_of_study
medicine.medical_specialty Traditional medicine business.industry Population Alternative medicine Pharmacy Likert scale 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Complementary and alternative medicine Paired samples 030220 oncology & carcinogenesis Family medicine Stress (linguistics) Medicine Over-the-counter business education 030217 neurology & neurosurgery After treatment |
| Popis: | Introduction Increasingly, people with stress-related disorders seek alternative self-treatment remedies from pharmacies. The aim of the study was to survey the habits of Italians visiting pharmacies to obtain natural cures for stress, and investigate their short-term benefits in reducing perceived stress. Methods The study was conducted in 54 Italian pharmacies in 3 major cities. Participants older than 18 years, seeking remedies for stress manifestations were recruited and pharmacists recorded the herbal remedies participants chose. To assess whether the remedies effectively reduced perceived stress participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10) at baseline and 15 days later (T1). A 10-point Likert self-assessment scale was used to measure the benefit experienced after treatment for 15 days. Results Of the 374 subjects who completed the study, 235 chose two herbal remedies: valeriana and hops and passiflora or melissa. Another group heterogeneously used other remedies. At T1, t-test for paired samples showed a significant reduction in PSS scores, and one-way ANOVA confirmed the reduction between all groups (p = 0.001). Self-reported benefits differed significantly between the three groups (p Conclusions The short-term use of herbal remedies seems effective in reducing perceived stress. Valeriana and hops combined seem more helpful than other herbal remedies. These findings obtained in Italian city pharmacies merit confirmation in population studies. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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