Attitude, Beliefs, and Use of Herbal Remedies by Patients in the Riyadh Region of Saudi Arabia.

Background: The consumption of herbal medicines (HMs) is increasing worldwide, especially in developing countries. This study attempts to investigate and evaluate the patient's perception with regard to the security of HMs, their attitudes towards the concomitant use of HMs with modern medicines, and counseling about their use.

Design: Self-administered questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey study.

Setting: A self-administered structured questionnaire was administered to 200 patients who received HMs from four different government and private hospitals in the Riyadh region of Saudi Arabia, over a period of three months.

Results: The response rate was 74.5%. Out of these, 76.83% of respondents reported using HMs in some form for a variety of conditions. There was no statistically significant relationship between various demographic characteristics and the use of herbs. The majority of the respondents (76.72%) reported using HMs without any professional supervision. This exposes them to the risk of harmful side effects and drug interactions.

Conclusions: Physicians and pharmacists should work to provide evidence-based information about HMs to patients about effectiveness and side effects and be vigilant while writing prescriptions and dispensing drugs to them. Patient counseling and education about medication use are required to augment their awareness about their use.