Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34777985›Full record

ArticlePreventive medicine reports2021

Utilization of complementary and alternative medicine for the prevention of COVID-19 infection in Ghana: A national cross-sectional online survey.

Irene A Kretchy, Joseph A Boadu, James-Paul Kretchy, Kofi Agyabeng, Alfred A Passah, Augustina Koduah, Kwabena F M Opuni

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Preventive medicine reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
10.1field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Irene A KretchyDepartment of Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG43, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Joseph A BoaduDepartment of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG43, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
James-Paul KretchyDepartment of Physician Assistantship Studies, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Central University, Miotso, Accra, Ghana.
Kofi AgyabengDepartment of Mathematics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Alfred A PassahDepartment of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG43, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Augustina KoduahDepartment of Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG43, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Kwabena F M OpuniDepartment of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG43, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
University of Ghana · GHCentral University · GHKU Leuven · BE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is widespread and has played critical roles in preventing infections, including previous coronaviruses. This study sought to document current practices in the use of CAM for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in Ghana. An anonymous electronic survey was conducted from February 1, 2021 to April 30, 2021. Data on demographic characteristics, basic clinical information, illness perceptions about COVID-19, and CAM use during the pandemic period were generated. While about 82.5% (986/1195) of the participants used CAM during the COVID-19 period, 69.1% (681/986) of CAM users intented it for COVID-19 infection prevention. Vitamin supplements (88.1%, 869/986), spiritual healing/prayer (23.3%, 230/986), mineral supplements (22.3%, 220/986), botanical/herbal medicines (22.2%, 219/986), and diet therapy (19.4%, 191/986) were the main types of CAM used. From the adjusted binary logistic regression model, current age (aOR: 1.03, 95%CI: 1.01-1.05), sex (aOR: 1.41, 95%CI: 1.02-1.95), participants' perceptions of consequences (aOR: 1.10, 95%CI: 1.04-1.17), identity (aOR: 1.15, 95%CI: 1.06-1.25) and concerns about COVID-19 (aOR: 0.91, 95%CI: 0.85-0.97) were statistically significant predictors of CAM use. These results suggest the need for appropriate public health policy on COVID-19 and CAM use in addition to directing further research initiatives toward an optimized COVID-19 prevention scheme using clinically validated CAM treatments. Research to validate the clinical efficacy of these products, especially the herbs, for COVID-19 prevention while isolating lead compounds that could be optimized and used for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 is also recommended.

Indexed as

CAM useCoronavirusCOVID-19HerbsPerceptionSide effects

Identifiers

PMID34777985
PMCPMC8575551
OpenAlexW3213430482

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.