Medicinal plants and people with tuberculosis: description of care practices in northern Bahia, 2017

Abstract

Objective. To describe the medicinal plants used by people with tuberculosis (TB) in municipalities in northern Bahia, in 2017. Methods. A descriptive study was carried out with primary data on medicinal plants used by people with TB <18 years old, presented by botanical nomenclature and frequency of consumption. Results. Of the 80 people interviewed, 50 reported consuming some medicinal plant, among which, they were mainly male (34), ≥47 years old (22), brown/black (34), with up to complete primary education (25), married (26), not economically active (30), with up to 300.00 reais/month (26), with cough (33) and with no previous history of TB (44). Two species featured in the citations, Chenopodium ambrosioides L. (mastruz: 23 citations), and Solanum capsicoides All. (beach-watermelon: 17 citations). Conclusion. There was widespread use of medicinal plants as a TB care practice in six municipalities in northern Bahia.