Fitoterápicos e plantas medicinais na prática dos profissionais de saúde em unidades de Estratégia Saúde da Família

Abstract

Introduction: The use of herbal medicine has increased, however there are still gaps in knowledge about the subject, what stopping the full adherence to the practice by health professionals. Objectives: To verify the knowledge about the practice of herbal medicine by health professionals in Family Health Strategy Units (FHS). Method: Quantitative, cross-sectional study, with the application of a questionnaire containing questions about herbal medicine. Descriptive analysis was performed, using relative and absolute frequency and correlation analysis through Pearson's chi-square test, using binomial and multinomial regression test. Results: 156 health professionals participated in the research, distributed in 20 FHS in the city of Rondonópolis-MT, 24 nurses, 8 doctors, 7 dentists, 4 pharmacists, 6 psychologists, 10 nursing technicians, 88 community health agents, 7 technicians in oral health, 1 pharmacy technician and 1 physical educator. It is noteworthy that 58% do not know the difference between herbal medicines and medicinal plants, 52% do not know how to provide guidance or know how to quote medicines from plants (53%), 88% didn´t take a course or discipline in the area and 86% are interested in qualifying on the subject. Among prescribing professionals, 72.1% said they rarely or didn´t prescribe herbal medicine in their professional practice. Conclusion: There is evidence of gaps in knowledge about herbal medicine and the need for training professionals working in the FHS, in order to feel safe to prescribe and guide about the risks and benefits of using plants as a therapeutic alternative.

Keywords: Herbal Medicines. Medicinal plants. Health professionals.