Herbal medicine use and linked suspected adverse drug reactions in a prospective cohort of Ugandan inpatients

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Research Article

Charles Karamagi¹  Sam Ononge²  Ronald Kiguba³  Sheila M. Bird⁴ 

[1] Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda;Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mulago National Referral Hospital, Kampala, Uganda;Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda;Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda;Medical Research Council Biostatistics Unit, Cambridge, UK;

关键词: Adverse drug reactions;    Alternative medicines;    Herbal medicines;    Suspected adverse drug reactions;    Uganda;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12906-016-1125-x

 received in 2015-12-16, accepted in 2016-05-13,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundClinical history-taking can be employed as a standardized approach to elucidate the use of herbal medicines and their linked suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) among hospitalized patients. We sought to identify herbal medicines nominated by Ugandan inpatients; compare nomination rates by ward and gender; confirm the herbs’ known pharmacological properties from published literature; and identify ADRs linked to pre-admission use of herbal medicines.MethodsProspective cohort of consented adult inpatients designed to assess medication use and ADRs on one gynaecological and three medical wards of 1790-bed Mulago National Referral Hospital. Baseline and follow-up data were obtained on patients’ characteristics, including pre-admission use of herbal medicines.ResultsFourteen percent (26/191) of females in Gynaecology nominated at least one specific herbal medicine compared with 20 % (114/571) of inpatients on medical wards [20 % (69/343) of females; 20 % (45/228) of males]. Frequent nominations were Persea americana (30), Mumbwa/multiple-herb clay rods (23), Aloe barbadensis (22), Beta vulgaris (12), Vernonia amygdalina (11), Commelina africana (7), Bidens pilosa (7), Hoslundia opposita (6), Mangifera indica (4), and Dicliptera laxata (4). Four inpatients experienced 10 suspected ADRs linked to pre-admission herbal medicine use including Commelina africana (4), multiple-herb-mumbwa (1), or unspecified local-herbs (5): three ADR-cases were abortion-related and one kidney-related.ConclusionsThe named herbal medicines and their nomination rates generally differed by specialized ward, probably guided by local folklore knowledge of their use. Clinical elicitation from inpatients can generate valuable safety data on herbal medicine use. However, larger routine studies might increase the utility of our method to assess herbal medicine use and detect herb-linked ADRs. Future studies should take testable samples of ADR-implicated herbal medicines for further analysis.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Kiguba et al. 2016