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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences 2023; 15(01): 020-028
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1750084
Original Article

Knowledge, Attitude, and Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Final-Year Pharmacy and Medical Students in Benghazi, Libya

Seham Shaboun
1   Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Benghazi, Benghazi, Libya
,
Lina Salama
2   Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benghazi, Benghazi, Libya
,
Rima Salama
2   Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benghazi, Benghazi, Libya
,
Fatma Abdrabba
2   Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benghazi, Benghazi, Libya
,
Fawzia Shabon
3   Benghazi Children's Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, University of Benghazi, Benghazi, Libya
› Author Affiliations Funding and Sponsorship None.
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Abstract

Introduction Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a growing branch of medicine that can improve the quality of life of many people. This study aimed to assess comparatively the knowledge, attitude, and use of CAM among graduation year pharmacy and medicine students at the University of Benghazi, Libya.

Method A cross-sectional survey was conducted among graduation year pharmacy and medicine students at the University of Benghazi for 4 months. The study tool was a self-administered online questionnaire and consisted of four main sections: demographic data, use, knowledge, and attitude toward CAM.

Results Most of the study respondents were females, and most were from Benghazi city. CAM use among pharmacy students was significantly higher (p-value= 0.001), with ruguia being the most commonly used modality (52.5%), followed by cupping-Al hijama and herbal medicine. Minor ailments and acute illnesses were the main medical conditions treated with CAM, and the unnecessary physician intervention was the top reason for practicing CAM among students. CAM knowledge and attitude were significantly higher among pharmacy students (p-value= 0.000 and 0.001, respectively).

Conclusion CAM was commonly practiced among the study participants. Their overall knowledge of CAM was limited, whereas their attitude toward it was positive, with pharmacy students having a better degree of both.

Keywords

complementary and alternative medicine - students - pharmacy - medicine - knowledge - attitude - use - Libya

Authors' Contributions

All authors have contributed to the study and article to fulfill the ICMJE authorship criteria.


Compliance with Ethical Principles

The study was formally approved by the Faculty of Pharmacy- University of Benghazi. All responses remained anonymous and confidential; no personal identifiers were present in the questionnaire.




Publication History

Article published online:
19 July 2022

© 2022. The Libyan Biotechnology Research Center. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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