Agricultural Sciences, 2022, 13, 675-683
https://www.scirp.org/journal/as
ISSN Online: 2156-8561
ISSN Print: 2156-8553
DOI: 10.4236/as.2022.136044 Jun. 10, 2022 675 Agricultural Sciences
Insite into Herbal Medicinal Practices among
the Students of Sultan Moulay Slimane
University, Morroco: A Retrospective
Cross-Sectional Study
Aniba Rafik
1
, Barguigua Abouddihaj
1
, Dihmane Asmaa
1
, Nayme Kaotar
2
,
Timinouni Mohammed
2
1
Team of Biotechnology and Sustainable Development of Natural Resources, Polydisciplinary Faculty, Sultan Moulay Slimane
University, Beni Mellal, Morocco
2
Molecular Bacteriology Laboratory, Pasteur Institute of Morocco, Casablanca, Morocco
Abstract
Introduction: This study sought to investigate the prevalence and determine
factors for predicting the use of herbal medicine, among Sultan Moulay Sli-
mane University students. Methods: This study was a retrospective cross-
sectional study from March 1st, 2017 to April 13th, 2017. Four hundred se-
venty-six university students were interviewed using a questionnaire includ-
ing a socio-demographic scale and herbal self-therapy knowledge and beha-
viors. The statistical analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel (Microsoft
2016). Results: The frequency of herbal self-therapy among Sultan Moulay
Slimane University students has reached 65%. 26.07% of the participants re-
ported that the first reason for using herbal self-therapy was a lack of money.
Meanwhile, the most common conditions that prompted them to use these
plants on their own were cough and cold (36.48%), and abdominal pain due
to heartburn or peptic ulcer (24.41%). The most frequent self-administered
plants were Thymus vulgaris (43.7%). Family, seniors, or classmates were a
source of information for herbal self-therapy. Conclusion: The region of Beni
Mellal, Morocco has important floristic biodiversity of medicinal plants that
are used in traditional medicine practice. The present paper represents sig-
nificant ethnobotanical information on medical plants, which provides base-
line data for future pharmacological and phytochemical studies. Therefore,
there is a need to establish effective herbal medicine policies and health edu-
cation programs to discuss the benefits and risks of herbal medicine use with
the aim of maximizing patient-desired therapeutic outcomes.
How to cite this paper: Rafik, A., Aboud-
dihaj, B., Asmaa, D., Kaotar, N. and Mo-
hammed, T. (2022) Insite into Herbal Me-
dicinal Practices among the Students of
Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Morro-
co: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study.
Agricultural Sciences, 13, 675-683.
https://doi.org/10.4236/as.2022.136044
Received: April 24, 2022
Accepted: June 7, 2022
Published: June 10, 2022
Copyright © 2022 by author(s) and
Scientific Research Publishing Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Open Access