Journal of Education and Health Promotion

The use of medicinal plants in the prevention of COVID‑19 using the Health Belief Model: A survey based on the Iranian population

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Masoomeh Latifi 1
. Fatemeh Maraki 2
. Mohammad‑Javad Parvaresh 3
. Mohammadreza Zarei 2
. Leili Allabakhshian 4

1 hormozgan university of medical science

2 Department of Operating Room, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran

3 Department of Psychiatry, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

4 Information Sciences and Knowledge Studies, Vice‑Chancellery for Research and Technology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Because of the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19), the preventive
measures have increased, such as focusing on the use of medicinal plants in most communities,
including Iran. The purpose of this study was to identify the knowledge, attitude, and performance of
individuals toward the use of medicinal plants and to identify the predictors of the use of medicinal
plants in the prevention of COVID‑19.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive‑analytical study (February–April 2021) was performed
on 3840 Iranian men and women aged 20–70 years selected as a multi‑stage cluster study. At the
first stage, all provinces were divided into five regions: North, South, East, West, and Center. In the
second stage, a provincial center and a city were randomly selected from each region (North: Sari,
Babol; South: Bushehr, Bandar Genaveh; East: Mashhad, Sabzevar; West: Hamedan, Toisarkan;
Center: Yazd, Ardakan). Data were collected by a researcher‑made scale based on the Health
Belief Model (HBM). Data analysis was performed applying Pearson correlation coefficient, logistic
regression, and linear regression.
RESULTS: The results showed that people have relatively high knowledge and positive attitude toward
the use of medicinal plants in prevention of COVID‑19. The most important reason for positive attitude
was the perceived benefits with the mean of 75.06%. Also, half of the people had poor performance.
Correlation coefficient showed that the use of medicinal plants with perceived sensitivity (p = 0.000,
r = 0.3), perceived benefits (p = 0.012, r = 0.126), perceived barriers (p = 0.000, r = 0.179), and
perceived self‑efficacy (p = 0.000, r = 0.305) had a significant correlation. The strongest correlation
between perceived self‑efficacy was observed with the use of herbs in prevention of COVID‑19. The
HBM constructs can predict 26% of the variance for the use of medicinal plants in the prevention
of COVID‑19, among which perceived self‑efficacy (β = 0.230) was the most powerful predictor.
CONCLUSION: Based on the results, the predictive role of self‑efficacy constructs for the use of
medicinal plants in prevention of COVID‑19 has been confirmed according to the HBM. Therefore,
methods of increasing self‑efficacy such as training programs and providing appropriate intervention
models can be used not only as promoters of using medicinal plants in prevention of COVID‑19 but
also for improving people’s performance in the proper use of medicinal plants.

Keywords

COVID‑19
medicinal
plants
prevention
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 13, Issue 2
February 2023
Pages 1-9

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