Study on effectiveness and user satisfaction of anti-inflammatory ointment of Curcuma albiflora Thw. in Bentota divisional secretariat, Southern Sri Lanka

Abstract

Under the same Sinhalese vernacular name, three plants (C. albiflora Thw., C. zedoaria Rosc., and Zingiber zerumbet Smith.) are being reported. Amongst them, C. albiflora is an endangered and less explored plant. The current study was conducted to study anti-inflammatory activity of the ointment, which was produced using C. albiflora. Clinical trial was conducted using 175 people in community based centers in two gramaniladari divisions of Bentota Divisional Secretariat, Southern Province of Sri Lanka. Patients were asked to complete a structured questionnaire based on which treatment (98 indicidials) and placebo (77 individuals) group was identified. Treatment was conducted for two weeks and the results monitored by the two traditional medicine (TM) doctors used for the analysis. Comparisons by chi square test showed that TM users and non-users did not differ with respect to previous side effects and current inflammatory condition (P<0.05). By binary logistic regression analysis, a treatment group satisfaction was about 88 times the chance of the placebo group. The binary logistic models indicated that patients with age more than 60 years, female, previous traditional medicine users, duration of current anti-inflammatory condition not less than one year were more likely to effectively response. Ointment of C. albiflora Thw. showed significant anti-inflammatory activity.