ArticleEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2013
Why urban citizens in developing countries use traditional medicines: the case of suriname.
Article in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Herbal medicine use and predictors among pregnant women attending antenatal care in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2020Pooled it
- Animals traded for traditional medicine in Ghana: their zootherapeutic uses and implications for biodiversity conservation.Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine · 2025Article
- Curcumin, an active component of turmeric: biological activities, nutritional aspects, immunological, bioavailability, and human health benefits - a comprehensive review.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Tradition meets modernity: understanding consumer psychology for TCM functional foods in Northern China using integrated structural equation and agent-based modeling.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- The perspectives of clinical level medical students on animal-assisted therapy: a study in Ghana.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Article
- Assessing a "Least-Concern" Red List Tree Species from Madagascar Used in Traditional Medicine:Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Consumption and adverse reaction reporting of herbal medicines among people living with HIV at University teaching hospitals in Blantyre, Malawi and Ibadan, Nigeria.Malawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi · 2024Article
- Plant use and perceptions in the context of sexual health among people of Congolese descent in Belgium.Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine · 2024Article
- Knowledge, attitude, and utilization of traditional medicine within the plural medical system in West Java, Indonesia.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Article
- Ethnomedicinal evaluation of medicinal plants used for therapies by men and women in rural and urban communities in Makkah district.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2024Article
- Anthropology and ethnobotany in health mediation: an illustration of a clinical, personalized approach for Haitian migrants in a French Guianese hospital.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- The sustainable use of diverse plants accustomed by different ethnic groups in Sibi District, Balochistan, Pakistan.PloS one · 2024Article
- Phytochemical screening andPeerJ · 2024Article
- Prevalence of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use and Its Associated Factors among Iranian Diabetic Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study.Current therapeutic research, clinical and experimental · 2024Article
- Sweet Basil between the Soul and the Table-Transformation of Traditional Knowledge onPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- A terpenoid-rich extract fromHeliyon · 2022Article
- Article
- Self-medication practices with conventional and herbal drugs among ear, nose, and throat patients.Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2022Article
- Advancing urban ethnopharmacology: a modern concept of sustainability, conservation and cross-cultural adaptations of medicinal plant lore in the urban environment.Conservation physiology · 2021Article
- Low back pain prevalence, beliefs and treatment-seeking behaviour in multi-ethnic Suriname.Rheumatology advances in practice · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The use of traditional medicines (TMs) among urban populations in developing countries and factors underlying people's decision to use TMs are poorly documented. We interviewed 270 adults in Paramaribo, Suriname, using a stratified random household sample, semistructured questionnaires, and multivariate analysis. Respondents mentioned 144 medicinal plant species, most frequently Gossypium barbadense, Phyllanthus amarus, and Quassia amara. 66% had used TMs in the previous year, especially people who suffered from cold, fever, hypertension, headache, uterus, and urinary tract problems. At least 22% combined herbs with prescription medicine. The strongest explanatory variables were health status, (transfer of) plant knowledge, and health status combined with plant knowledge. Other predictive variables included religion, marital status, attitude of medical personnel, religious opinion on TMs, and number of children per household. Age, gender, nationality, rural background, education, employment, income, insurance, and opinion of government or doctors had no influence. People's main motivation to use TMs was their familiarity with herbs. Given the frequent use of self-collected, home-prepared herbal medicine and the fact that illness and traditional knowledge predict plant use rather than poverty or a limited access to modern health care, the potential risks and benefits of TMs should be put prominently on the national public health agenda.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.