Practices, Knowledge, and Attitudes of Chinese University Students Toward Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine for the Control of COVID-19

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic Information, Application Practice of Chinese Herbs for COVID-19 and Knowledge Scores Among University Students Participating in the Study (n =313)

Participant Attribute	Number (%)	Experience of Using Chinese Herbs for the Prevention of COVID-19, n (%)	Interrelation of Application Practice of Chinese Herbs for COVID-19 with Demographic Characteristics (p value)	Knowledge Score (Mean ± SD)	Interrelation of Knowledge Score with Demographic Characteristics (p value)
Gender
Male	138(44)	28(9)	0.021^a	1.59±1.02	0.499^b
Female	175(56)	19(6)		1.67±0.92
Age
< 20 years	128(41)	16(5)	0.305^a	1.70±0.98	0.365^b
≥ 20 years	185(59)	31(10)		1.59±0.95
Profession
Healthcare professional	164(52)	21(7)	0.251^a	1.70±0.96	0.307^b
Non-medical professional	149(48)	26(8)		1.58±0.97
Have you used Chinese herbs to treat or prevent disorders excluding COVID-19 in recent 5 years?
Yes	145(46)	33(11)	<0.001^a	1.81±0.96	0.002^b
No	168(54)	14(4)		1.48±0.95

Notes: ^aChi-square test;^bOne-way ANOVA with post hoc Tukey’s HSD.

Figure 1 Practice of Chinese university students to use Chinese herbs to fight COVID-19 (n = 313). (A) Information sources; (B) Attention degree; (C) Most important promoting factor.

Table 2 Chinese University Students’ Attitudes and Opinions Toward the Application of Chinese Herbs to Fight COVID-19 (n =313)

Survey Question/Statement	Responses, Number (%)
	Strongly Agree	Agree	Undecided	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
Q14: The application of Chinese herbal medicine is important to prevent COVID-19 in healthy individuals.	114(36)	146(47)	50(16)	1(0.4)	2(0.6)
Q15: The application of Chinese herbal medicine is important for the treatment of COVID-19 patients to improve their symptoms and prognosis.	113(36)	143(46)	51(16)	5(2)	1(0.4)
Q16: If there are COVID-19 patients around me, I would like to use Chinese herbs to prevent self-infection.	85(27)	154(49)	70(22)	3(1)	1(0.4)
Q17: The performance of traditional Chinese herbal medicine in the prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemic would effectively promote my confidence in TCM.	113(36)	167(53)	29(9)	3(1)	1(0.4)
Q18: The performance of traditional Chinese herbal medicine in the prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemic would contribute to the popularization and globalization of TCM.	121(39)	146(47)	42(13)	3(1)	1(0.4)

Figure 2 The preferred treatment option for mild (A) or severe (B) cases of COVID-19 (n = 313).

Table 3 The Most Important Perceived Advantage of Chinese Herbs to Fight COVID-19 (n = 313)

Answer Choice	Responses, Number(%)
Effectiveness.	31(10)
Safety.	44(14)
Individualized therapy based on syndrome differentiation.	50(16)
Etiologically oriented therapy to treat the underlying causes of disorders.	28(9)
Multi-target therapy.	3(1)
Holistic therapy taking the human body as a whole.	63(20)
Rich experiences of TCM in applying herbs to combat epidemic diseases over the past thousands of years	63(20)
The concept of “prevention before disease onset” in TCM.	28(9)
No advantage.	3(1)

Table 4 The University Students’ Opinions About an Academic Report Supporting the Efficacy of Honeysuckle Decoction in Curing Infected Patients and Stopping the COVID-19 Pandemic (n = 313)

Answer Choice	Responses, Number(%)
It is a very exciting research finding, and I will take honeysuckle decoction to prevent self-infection of COVID-19.	78(25)
This finding needs further confirmation, but I still want to take honeysuckle decoction to prevent self-infection of COVID-19.	131(42)
Before this finding is further confirmed, I will not take honeysuckle decoction to prevent self-infection of COVID-19.	88(28)
This finding needs further confirmation, and I do not believe that honeysuckle decoction really has this effect.	16(5)