Pharmacy customers’ confidence in phytotherapy

Abstract

Introduction: Phytotherapy is an important part of modern medicine today. It is actively developing and improving while new potentials are constantly being discovered and broadened in scientific as well as in practical uses. Goal: To identify the popularity as well as the level of trust regarding phytotherapy shown by the pharmacy customers in Republic of Moldova. Methods: The study has been realized in one of the community pharmacy chains in Chisinau. During the study, 271 community pharmacy customers were questioned during their visits in pharmacy. The data were collected, processed using SPSS 20.0 statistical tool. Results: According to the results of the analysis, 79,7% of the participants confirmed that they used phytotherapeutic methods frequently. According to the questionnaires, women were more likely then men to trust these methods (62,2% versus 37,8%). More than half of the interviewed consumers (54,2%) actually prefer herbal medicine for some sorts of prophylactic treatments. Only one fifth (20,3%) of the participants, most of which are 20 - 24 (38%) years old, do not use these methods. However, interviewers aged 25 and older start using ph)4otherapy more and more (95,9%). 62% of all participants stated that phytotherapy should be used with synthetic treatments together in order to achieve better results. However, a quarter of the respondents are confident that herbal medicine treatment can be basic in any case (24,7%). Searching for the additional information about phytotherapy as well as for methods of treatment using herbal medicine, the majority of the participants (57,6%) use internet sources as means of research while 26,2% prefer to consult a pharmacist, 10% consult a doctor, and the rest of the consumers seek for an advice and information from the television, various literature, and family and friends. Conclusion: Nowadays, modern society trusts phytotherapy and uses herbal medicines as an additional method of treatment. Therefore, there is a need for developing of phytotherapy as a basic method of treatment and to increase pharmacy assortment of herbal medicines.