Use of medicinal plants in the basic care of the city of Aracaju / SE

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 80% of the world's population uses traditional practices in primary health care, and 85% of that portion uses plants or plant-based preparations. A cross-sectional study was carried out from August 2015 to January 2016, in which it sought to investigate the use of medicinal plants in four basic health units in the city of Aracaju-SE. For this, a semi-structured questionnaire was applied to 554 users characterizing the plants used. At the same time, the botanical collection and identification of the medicinal plants were carried out. With regard to age, participants had a mean of 43.79 (deviation ± 15.14) years. Regarding the utilization profile, it was observed that the use of medicinal plants increased with age (p <0.05). Among the interviewees, 71.79% used medicinal plants, the main extractive form used was the infusion 44.4%, the symptoms and diseases cited as justification for the use of medicinal plants were respiratory infection (13%), fever (8% diarrhea caused by vermin (6%), diarrhea without definite cause (10%), headache (8%), stomach pain (14%), influenza and insomnia (10%), hypertension bacterial infection (10%) and anti-inflammatory (14%). Twenty-one plant species were identified, of which one plant had botanical identification different from that cited by the community. The results highlight the importance of traditional medicine in health care and the need for further studies aimed at ensuring the rational and safe use of medicinal plants.Segundo a Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS) 80% da população mundial faz uso das práticas tradicionais no que se refere à atenção primária à saúde, e 85% dessa parcela utiliza plantas ou preparações à base de vegetais. Foi realizado um estudo transversal no período de agosto de 2015 a janeiro de 2016, no qual buscou investigar o uso de plantas medicinais em quatro unidades básicas de saúde do município de Aracaju-SE. Para tal, aplicou-se um questionário semiestruturado a 554 usuários caracterizando as plantas utilizadas. Paralelamente foi realizada a coleta e identificação botânica das plantas medicinais relatadas. Com relação à idade, os participantes tinham uma média de 43,79 (desvio ±15,14) anos. Quanto ao perfil de utilização observou-se que o uso de plantas medicinais aumentava conforme a idade (p