Medicinal & Aromatic Plants
Open Access
ISSN: 2167-0412
ISSN: 2167-0412
Pui-Yin Lun, Wong M P, Chow Y L and Kam Y C
The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Med Aromat Plants
Background & Aim: Drinking herbal tea to treat the body conditions has become popular in Hong Kong. Inappropriate consumption of herbal tea may be harmful to health. Therefore, knowledge on drinking suitable herbal tea according to the body condition is crucial to promote health. Nurses play a significant role in public health promotion. This study was to investigate the consumption of herbal tea and related knowledge among nurses in Hong Kong. Method: This was a cross-sectional survey with participants recruited by convenience sampling. A self-administered questionnaire developed by the authors was used to assess the consumption of herbal tea and related knowledge. Results: A total of 366 nurses participated in this study with response rate 100%. Over ninety percent (90.7%) of participants had history of drinking herbal tea in the past 12 months. Two common reasons of drinking herbal tea were at the time when they felt heat (66.4%) and caught cold/flu (23.4%). The participants (64%) reported that drinking herbal tea was mostly occurred in summer. The overall mean score of knowledge was 5.59±1.75. Participants at the age group 20-30 were found to have the poorest knowledge (3.89±2.15). Significant differences in the consumption of herbal tea within the recent one year were found among age groups (�?2=10.285, p=0.016). Conclusion: The findings indicated herbal tea was commonly consumed among Hong Kong nurses and their related knowledge was rather weak. As nurses play a significant role in public health promotion, it is recommended to provide nurses more formal education related to fundamentals of Chinese medicine and consumption of herbal tea.
Pui-Yin Lun has completed her Master of Nursing in Chinese Medicine Nursing from The Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) in 2017. She is currently an Honorary Clinical Tutor and Assessor of School of Nursing and Health Studies of OUHK.
E-mail: puiyinlun@gmail.com