The Commonly Utilized Natural Products during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methods
2.1. Study Design and Data Collection
2.2. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
- (1)
- Nationality:
- ○
- Saudi
- ○
- Non-Saudi
- (2)
- Residence area:
- ○
- Central region
- ○
- Eastern region
- ○
- Western region
- ○
- Northern region
- ○
- Southern region
- (3)
- Gender:
- ○
- Male
- ○
- Female
- (4)
- Age:
- ○
- 18–29 years old
- ○
- 30–49 years old
- ○
- 50–64 years old
- ○
- 65 years old and above
- (5)
- Educational level:
- ○
- Intermediate or middle school diploma
- ○
- Secondary or high school diploma
- ○
- Associate degree (e.g., community college).
- ○
- Bachelor’s degree
- ○
- Post-graduate education (e.g., master or doctorate of philosophy degrees (PhD))
- (6)
- Employment status:
- ○
- Employed
- ○
- Unemployed
- (7)
- Health status:
- ○
- Healthy (e.g., no chronic health conditions such as diabetes and hypertension).
- ○
- Have chronic health conditions (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, asthma and others).
- (8)
- What type of infection is COVID-19?
- ○
- Viral infection
- ○
- Bacterial infection
- (9)
- What are the main symptoms of this infection?
- ○
- Respiratory symptoms (fever, cough, shortness of breath).
- ○
- Gastrointestinal symptoms (fever, diarrhea, and vomiting).
- ○
- Fever, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and nonspecific (e.g., loss of taste and/or smell, fatigue, headache) symptoms.
- (10)
- Do you use any of the following herbs to protect yourself against COVID-19 infection? (You can pick more than one).
- ○
- Ginger
- ○
- Cinnamon
- ○
- Anise
- ○
- Honey
- ○
- Garlic
- ○
- Lemon
- ○
- Black seeds
- ○
- Myrrh
- ○
- Turmeric
- ○
- Trigonella
- ○
- I don’t use any herbs
- ○
- Others (specify it).
- (11)
- Do you use any of the following herbal mixtures? (You can pick more than one).
- ○
- Lemon with Honey and Ginger.
- ○
- Garlic with Cinnamon and Honey.
- ○
- Lemon with Honey.
- ○
- I don’t use any herbal mixtures.
- ○
- Others (specify it).
- (12)
- Do you use any prescription medications?
- ○
- Yes
- ○
- No
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Characteristics | n (%) |
---|---|
Gender | |
Male | 605 (41.1) |
Female | 868 (58.9) |
Age categories (year) | |
18–29 | 456 (31.0) |
30–49 | 767 (52.1) |
50–64 | 220 (14.9) |
≥65 | 29 (2.0) |
Nationality | |
Saudi | 1353 (91.9) |
Non-Saudi | 120 (8.1) |
Geographic location | |
Central region | 785 (53.3) |
Eastern region | 136 (9.2) |
Western region | 473 (32.1) |
Northern region | 26(1.8) |
Southern region | 53(3.6) |
Education level | |
Intermediate school diploma | 36 (2.4) |
High school diploma | 175 (11.9) |
Associate degree | 118 (8.0) |
Bachelor of Science degree | 764 (51.9) |
Postgraduate degrees (e.g., Master of Science or Doctor of Philosophy) | 380 (25.8) |
Employment status | |
Employed | 919 (62.4) |
Unemployed | 554 (37.6) |
Chronic health conditions | |
Yes | 280 (19.0) |
No | 1193(81.0) |
Taking Prescription medications | |
Yes | 310 (21.05) |
No | 1163 (78.95) |
Variable | Odds Ratio (OR) | 95% Confidence Interval (CI) | p-Value | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lower CI | Upper CI | |||
Nationality (Saudi) | 1.678 | 1.082 | 2.6 | 0.020 * |
Female gender | 0.916 | 0.718 | 1.168 | 0.477 |
Age | 1.303 | 1.1 | 1.545 | 0.002 * |
Education | 1.038 | 0.936 | 1.15 | 0.479 |
Employment status (Unemployed) | 0.922 | 0.722 | 1.176 | 0.512 |
Presence of comorbidities | 0.924 | 0.682 | 1.254 | 0.613 |
Awareness of the viral nature of COVID-19 infection | 3.345 | 0.945 | 11.846 | 0.061 |
Awareness of the common COVID-19 symptoms | 1.114 | 0.786 | 1.58 | 0.542 |
Taking prescription medication | 3.31 | 2.61 | 4.18 | <0.0001 * |
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AlNajrany, S.M.; Asiri, Y.; Sales, I.; AlRuthia, Y. The Commonly Utilized Natural Products during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 4688. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094688
AlNajrany SM, Asiri Y, Sales I, AlRuthia Y. The Commonly Utilized Natural Products during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(9):4688. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094688
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlNajrany, Sina M., Yousif Asiri, Ibrahim Sales, and Yazed AlRuthia. 2021. "The Commonly Utilized Natural Products during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 9: 4688. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094688