Study about different types of medicinal plants used by elderly people in Shahrekord city, Iran

Elderly people usually suffer from chronic diseases. Medicinal plants are being used by an increasing number of elderly people without their physician prescription. The aim of this study was to determine the medicinal plants usage in elderly people in Shahrekord. This research was an analytical- descriptive study, in which 400 elderly people were selected by simple sampling method from population referred to health care center in Shahrekord. The data was collected by questionnaire and analyzed by Chi- square test. The result of this study showed that 74.4% of the samples studied had used the medicinal plants. The most common reasons of medicinal plant usage were common cold, stomach pain, headache, arthralgia and hypertension. The most frequent medicinal plants used were Thymus daenensis, Echium amoenum, Descurainia sophia, Achillea wilhelmsii, and Glycyrrhiza glabra. Our data showed that 91% of the samples believed herbal medicines have been effective in their treatments. No significant relationship was observed between gender, age, education level, job and using the medicinal plants (P>0.05). Regarding to the frequent usage of medicinal plants in elderly people it is necessity to give accurate information about the side effects and possible interactions of medicinal plants to the community. More research is suggested to evaluate the efficacy and possible side effects of medicinal plants in elderly people.