Abstract

HOMEOPATHY- A PREVALENT REMEDIAL BELIEF AMONG PHARMACISTS

Ramsha Rukh, *Huda Kafeel, Faqeeha S, Kanza H, Sana T, Summiya S 

Abstract

The objective of the study is to analyze the prevalence of use of homeopathic remedy in two distinct groups i.e. pharmacist and non pharmacist in order to evaluate the growing belief of community towards non conventional methods.To achieve the objective a survey form was structured, which included the opinion of two different groups i-e pharmacist and non pharmacist with different age groups about their treatment preference. Questionnaire was designed to evaluate the reasons for which homeopathy is preferred, most common ailments in which it is used and other necessary relevant information. 400 forms were administered and 374 duly filled forms were collected with R.R of 93%. Sample population is being divided equally in 187 filled performas of both groups. 146 out of 374 are homeopathic users (39%). Data collected showed that interestingly a significant percentage of pharmacist 34% (64 out of 187) are homeopathy users. But on the whole non-pharmacists are more frequent users of homeopathy remedy about 41%. (82 out of 187). Most common reason reported by the users for using homeopathy were minimum side effects (47.53%) along with patient compliance, conventional belief, and long term effectiveness. Data also revealed that a significant no. of potential homeopathy believers belong to the age group 29 and above (49.25%) Conditions in which homeopathy is the preferred remedy included gastric problems (27.4%), gynecological disorders (26.02%), chronic respiratory disorders (15.14%), and others (6.4%).

Keywords: homeopathy; remedy; conventional; allopathy; pharmacist; nonpharmacist.