Patients’ Behavior Regarding Dietary or Herbal Supplements before and during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia
Aldwihi et al.,
Patients’ Behavior Regarding Dietary or Herbal Supplements before and during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia,
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, doi:10.3390/ijerph18105086
Retrospective survey-based analysis of 738 COVID-19 patients in Saudi Arabia, showing lower hospitalization with vitamin C, turmeric, zinc, and nigella sativa, and higher hospitalization with vitamin D. For vitamin D, most patients continued prophylactic use. For vitamin C, the majority of patients continued prophylactic use. For nigella sativa, the majority of patients started use during infection. Authors do not specify the fraction of prophylactic use for turmeric and zinc.
risk of hospitalization, 49.3% higher, RR 1.49, p = 0.002, treatment 94 of 259 (36.3%), control 143 of 479 (29.9%), adjusted per study, odds ratio converted to relative risk, multivariable.
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Effect extraction follows pre-specified rules prioritizing more serious outcomes. Submit updates
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Aldwihi et al., 11 May 2021, retrospective, Saudi Arabia, peer-reviewed, survey, mean age 36.5, 8 authors, study period August 2020 - October 2020, dosage not specified.
Contact:
oalmohammed@ksu.edu.sa (corresponding author), 436202414@student.ksu.edu.sa, 441204353@student.ksu.edu.sa, yazeed@ksu.edu.sa, alamrif@ksau-hs.edu.sa, afaleh@ksu.edu.sa, ofantoukh@ksu.edu.sa, aasssiri@moh.gov.sa.
Abstract: International Journal of
Environmental Research
and Public Health
Article
Patients’ Behavior Regarding Dietary or Herbal Supplements
before and during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia
Leen A. Aldwihi 1,† , Shahd I. Khan 1,2,† , Faisal F. Alamri 3,4 , Yazed AlRuthia 1,5 , Faleh Alqahtani 6 ,
Omer I. Fantoukh 7 , Ahmed Assiri 8 and Omar A. Almohammed 1, *
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
*
†
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia;
436202414@student.ksu.edu.sa (L.A.A.); 441204353@student.ksu.edu.sa (S.I.K.); yazeed@ksu.edu.sa (Y.A.)
Pharmaceutical Care Department, AlNoor Specialist Hospital, Ministry of Health,
Makkah 24241, Saudi Arabia
Basic Sciences Department, College of Science and Health Professions, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University
for Health Sciences, Jeddah 22384, Saudi Arabia; alamrif@ksau-hs.edu.sa
King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Jeddah 22384, Saudi Arabia
Pharmacoeconomics Research Unit, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University,
Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia; afaleh@ksu.edu.sa
Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia;
ofantoukh@ksu.edu.sa
General Directorate of Clinical Excellence, Ministry of Health, Riyadh 11176, Saudi Arabia;
aasssiri@moh.gov.sa
Correspondence: oalmohammed@ksu.edu.sa; Tel.: +966-555-10-4065
Equal contribution.
Citation: Aldwihi, L.A.; Khan, S.I.;
Alamri, F.F.; AlRuthia, Y.; Alqahtani,
F.; Fantoukh, O.I.; Assiri, A.;
Almohammed, O.A. Patients’
Behavior Regarding Dietary or
Herbal Supplements before and
during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021,
18, 5086. https://doi.org/10.3390/
ijerph18105086
Academic Editor: David Berrigan
Received: 13 April 2021
Accepted: 10 May 2021
Published: 11 May 2021
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional affiliations.
Copyright: © 2021 by the authors.
Abstract: The use of traditional medicinal plants in Saudi Arabia stems mainly from consumers’
belief in prophetic medicine. This study was conducted to explore changes in patients’ use of dietary
or herbal supplements among individuals infected with COVID-19 before and during infection
and the association between herbal or dietary supplements and hospitalization. A cross-sectional,
questionnaire-based study was conducted enrolling symptomatic patients who had recently recovered from COVID-19. Data were collected through phone interviews, and McNemar’s test was used
to investigate changes to consumption of dietary or herbal supplements before and during infection.
Multivariable logistic regression was used to investigate the association between supplements use
during patients’ infection and hospitalization. A total of 738 patients were included in this study, of
whom 32.1% required hospitalization. About 57% of participants were male with a mean age of 36.5
(±11.9) years. The use of lemon/orange, honey, ginger, vitamin C, and black seed among participants
significantly increased during their infection. In contrast, patients using anise, peppermint, and coffee
peel before their infection were more likely to stop using them during their infection. In addition,
using lemon/orange (p < 0.0001), honey (p = 0.0002), ginger (p = 0.0053), vitamin C (p = 0.0006), black
seed (p <..
aldwihi
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