Abstract
This study was conducted to examine housewives' knowledge level of herb medicine and its related factors in Korea. Data were collected from 667 housewives from April 1, 1999 to June 30, 1999. The results of this study are summarized as follows. 1. According to general characteristics of the subjects, 29.1% of the subjects was over fifties. 28.6% was primary school graduate. while 25.5% was high school graduate. In case of job, the unemployed was 67.0% and professional／clerical worker was 19.6%. 82.0% had spouses and 45.7% believed in Buddha. 50.8% of the subjects lived in big cities and 76.7% was the middle class. In case of their health condition, 33.4% was in good health, while 51.1% suffered from certain diseases and 43.9% was not satisfied with health conditions. 2. The proportion of experience in taking herb medicine was 86.4%. The marital status and health condition were significantly related to the experience in taking herb medicine. When the respondents took diseases, 68.0% of them were experienced in folk remedy. The variables of age and religion were significantly related to experience in folk remedy. 3. According to the respondents opinions of the effect of the folk remedy, 'effective' was 78.5% and 'common' was 17.6%, while 'not effective' was 3.9%. 59.3% of the respondents thought that the folk remedy had scientific basis. 4. In case of information sources on herb medicine, 59.7% of the respondents obtained the information from TV or Radio. 13.7% of them got it from magazines related to Oriental medicine and 13.3% of them obtained it from newspapers or related books. The information sources were significantly related to age and health condition. The knowledge level of herb medicine was $20.76{\pm}2.66$ point on the basis of 30 points. The knowledge level was significantly related to age, occupation, health condition, information sources, experience in taking herb medicine, and opinions of scientific basis of the folk remedy. 5. The respondents marked $2.23{\pm}0.64$ points on the basis of 3.0 points in the question of the effect of taking herb medicine in summer, $2.30{\pm}0.61$ points in the question of the relationship between taking deer antlers and becoming clear-headed, $2.72{\pm}0.56$ points in the question of ginseng, $2.51{\pm}0.56$ points in the question of the relationship between taking herb medicine and being harmful to the liver, $1.94{\pm}0.74$ points in the question of taking herb medicine during the period of pregnancy, $1.84{\pm}0.78$ points in the question of the relationship between menstrual irregularity and motherwort, $2.00{\pm}0.83$ points in the question of the relationship between taking herb medicine and getting fat, $1.76{\pm}0.89$ points in the question of the relationship between Ssanghwatang and cold, $2.15{\pm}0.76$ points in the question of taking honey, and $1.45{\pm}0.77$ points in the question of selecting foods during the period of taking herb medicine. 6. The factors influencing decision of taking herb medicine were experience of taking herb medicine, intention of receiving treatment by folk remedy, occupation, health condition, and age. As seen in the above results, the knowledge level of taking herb medicine during the period of pregnancy, the relationship between menstrual irregularity and motherwort, Ssanghwatang, honey, and selecting foods during the period of taking herb medicine was very low. Therefore, it is necessary to develop education programs in order to provide community residents with basic knowledge of herb medicine. In doing so, the government, Oriental medical doctors, and associations related to herb medicine must make great efforts.
