Herbal dietary supplements use by Czech adults: Exotic versus local herb species

Bc. Barbora Jirsáková

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The consumption of herbal dietary supplements (HDS) is typical for developing countries, but the consumption increases in developed countries, such as the Czech Republic, as well. As there is documented in other studies that developed countries very often use local herbs for healing purposes, studies on prevalence and use towards exotic ones lack. Thus, the aim of the thesis was to document (i) who is a typical consumer of HDS in the Czech Republic and what are their attitudes towards HDS, (ii) what are the most preferred herb species with special focus on exotic species, (iii) for which ailments and illnesses are particularly used, (iv) which sources are used to get more information on HDS and (v) the most common purchasing places of HDS. Total number of 601 respondents individually approached by our trained personnel in the streets of different residential areas participated in this survey. Study documented that the typical consumer is a woman of middle age, non-smoker, with secondary education living in large cities. Purposively pre-defined plant species, representing different geographical areas, underlined high and strong prevalence of domestic herbs, which were commonly used by the Czech population for ages. Nevertheless, tendencies toward exotic plant species were documented as well with significant differences between men and women. Men tented to use Echinacea purpurea (61.8%; p=0.001), while women preferred Melaleuca alternifolia (39.6%; p=0.001). Boosting immunity (64.2%), improving digestive system (43.9%) and psychical disorders such as insomnia or depression (38.4%) were the most frequent ailments healed by our respondents. Besides gender, differences in use of HDS were obtained also at rural-urban gradient. Respondents who lived in capital or regional cities used HDS for purpose of boosting immunity (66.6%, p=0.021), skin diseases (29.6%, p=0.002), small injuries (27.2%, p=0.001) and against obesity (15.8%, p=0.005). Psychological problems (50.7%, p=0.000) and urological issues (35.8%, p=0.020) were significantly more used in sub-regional cities. The HDS were bought mostly in drugstores (69.2%) or specialised shops (61.6%) and almost all respondents were willing to spend for these products up to 20 USD per one visit. Generally, the origin of HDS was not significant indicator, even for example for those who travelled outside the Europe. Most common source of information on HDS came from professional literature (16.6%), pharmacists (11.3%) or promotional material (10%). However, the information was also obtained from less official sources, such as friends (16.6%), internet (15.9%) or family tradition (9.1%). Moreover, 31.1% of respondents reported taking HDS together with conventional medicaments, very often without reporting their physicians. Our study shows that using of exotic HDS is very common among the Czech population, however, domestic species are still preferred. Origin of HDS is not important to our respondents and thus, they used them with rare consultation with physician, which may cause side effects or even health problems. Both HDS provider as well as policy-makers should pay more attention to legislation and providing the user with more and relevant information.

Keywords

herbs, Czech Republic, population survey, adverse side effects, consumers attitudes, herbal products

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 27. 4. 2017

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Ing. Vladimír Verner, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme / field:
Tropical Agriculture / International Development and Agricultural Economics