Perceived benefit of herb use by U.S. adults

This study of perceived benefit of herb use examined the relationship of predisposing, enabling and health status determinants, reasons for use, and conditions treated on the perceived importance of herb use to health and well-being, and amount herbs were reported to have helped the most bothersome conditions treated. The study was part of a larger secondary data analysis of the NHIS 2002 and its Alternative Health supplement. Data were analyzed using ordinal logistic regression. The sample included 5,712 U.S. Adults who reported herb use in the prior 12 months, and use of herbs to treat a specific health condition. Characteristics associated with perceived importance of herb use, and help in treating conditions, included older age, ethnicity and race, lack of regular source of health care, conventional care too expensive or ineffective. Specific conditions treated that were correlated with perceived importance of use were generally chronic medical diagnoses. Perceived importance was directly correlated with the degree herbs were reported to have helped the most bothersome conditions. The amount herbs were reported to help was inversely correlated with change in health status as reported in a separate section of the NHIS; few most bothersome conditions treated were correlated with degree of perceived help, and those correlated tended to be symptoms and common health complaints rather than medical diagnoses. Findings suggest that herbs may be perceived as beneficial in part because they are a necessary conventional care substitute due to access and affordability issues – which coupled with minority and elder use raises disparity questions.