Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
7th International Eurasian Conference on Biological and Chemical Sciences (EurasianBioChem 2024), Ankara, Türkiye, 2 - 04 Ekim 2024, ss.112
Apitherapy is a traditional and complementary medicine approach in which bees and bee products are used to support the treatment of various diseases (1). Upon reviewing the literature, it is evident that there are a limited number of studies evaluating the knowledge, opinions, and attitudes of health professionals about apitherapy practice (2,3). This study aimed to determine the knowledge, opinions, and attitudes of healthcare professionals about apitherapy. The descriptive survey was conducted using an online survey technique on healthcare professionals throughout Türkiye. The study included 703 questionnaires suitable for data quality. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS 23.0 package program. To identify the variables that have the most effect on apitherapy knowledge, a binary logistic regression analysis was done using the backward LR elimination method. The statistical significance level is regarded as p < 0.05. It was determined that the study population consisted of 304 (43.2%) pharmacists, 123 (17.5%) physicians, 122 (17.4%) nurses, and 154 (21.9%) other healthcare professionals. Of the respondents, 55.9% stated that they knew the concept of apitherapy. The analysis of logistic regression demonstrated that educational attainment (p = 0.023), profession (p = 0.000), work experience (p = 0.017), and the presence of chronic disease (p = 0.012) significantly had an effect on apitherapy knowledge. The best-known apitherapeutics were honey (98.4%), propolis (96.4%), and royal jelly (92.7%), while the less well-known were api-air (8.4%), apilarnil (5.1%), and apis totale (podmore) (3.1%). Apitherapy, according to 87.5% of participants, should only be practiced by a physician. 51.6% of healthcare professionals mentioned they wanted to learn more about apitherapy or execute studies concerning the topic in their careers. The study's findings revealed that healthcare professionals have a low level of knowledge about apitherapy. There should be more approaches that improve healthcare professionals' knowledge and awareness of apitherapy practices.
Keywords: apitherapy, bee product, healthcare professional