Uso de plantas medicinais e sua relação com a adesão ao tratamento medicamentoso entre pacientes portadores de diabetes no âmbito da atenção primária a saúde

Abstract

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease characterized by hyperglycemia with metabolism disorder of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins due to the absence of insulin produced by the pancreas or by the decrease of its action or by both cases. The prevalence of the disease hás increased in developing or underdeveloped countries. Pharmacological treatment of DM is essential for glycemic control and for achieving; the expected therapeutic efficacy in treatment medications should be taken as prescribed. Thus, medication adherence plays a key role in achieving the objective of the proposed conventional treatment. Although pharmacological treatments achieve glycemic control, there is evidence of the use of medicinal plants among diabetic patients as a complementary or substitute to the prescribed conventional treatment, without professional guidance, that may interfere with medication adherence. In view of this scenario, the present study aims to evaluate the relationship between the non-prescribed use of medicinal plants and the medication adherence to Diabetes Mellitus treatment in patients attended at the Robson Cavalcante Primary Health Unit, located in the Benedito Bentes II neighborhood, Maceió-AL. A cross-sectional, observational, analytical study was carried out, with patients being treated for Diabetes, with data collection through semi-structured questionnaires, with questions regarding the use of medicinal plants, sociodemographic and clinical data, and to verify adherence the Morisky Green Test (TMG) was used. In addition to these data, the values of capillary glycemia and glycated hemoglobin were obtained from the medical record. The number of patients included in this study was 110, 73.6% were female, 33.6% were in the age range of 60-69 years, 32.7% were illiterate and the income of 47.3% was lower than a prevailing minimum wage. The prevalence found for the use of medicinal plants in the last 12 months was 38.2% and for the use of plants in the last 24 hours was 13.6%. The most used plant were Morinda citrifolia noni (22.6%) and Morus nigra mulberry (17.1%), the most used part were leaves (61.1%) and 74.3% reported consuming tea, by infusion or decoction. For medication adherence, the prevalence found was 5.5%. The results demonstrate that the use of medicinal plant does not influence in adherence to the prescribed drug treatment and suggest that the use of the plants was carried out in a complementary way to pharmacotherapy.