Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviours of People in the Qatari Community towards Myrrh in Combating COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: Myrrh used as the oldest traditional medicinal extract plant for therapeutic activities for different diseases. This article conducted as the first study that aims to address the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of people in the Qatari community towards Myrrh in combating COVID-19. Methods: A total of 269 males and females participated as voluntary in this anonymous simple random sampling study. The data of the randomly distributed questionnaire exported into Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), then analyzed using frequency Tables, means, percentages, and standard deviations. Results: The majority of participants were females (71.0%) than males (29.0%), with an age of 41-50 (34.3%), 77.7% were married. 63.2% were Qatari nationalities, and 36.8% were non-Qataris. 48.0% had a baccalaureate degree, and 1.1% had no formal education. Most participants were government employees (39.0%), and 3.3% were others. 91.82% had heard about Myrrh, 50.9% use Myrrh when necessary, 13.0% after meals only, and 11.2% do not gargle nor use mouthwash. A mean of 3.91 believe in herbal and can use it any time. 44.5% agreed, and 29.1% strongly agreed to try to use Myrrh as an herbal to treat Covid-19. Conclusion: The study concludes that most people in the Qatari community do not have adequate knowledge of Myrrh because a large percentage of the people were healthy. In line with the study findings, Myrrh is significantly used as a mouth rinse and gargle wash to help protect the mouth from infections. The people were also unsure whether Myrrh was effective in treating Covid-19; however, they could use Myrrh to decrease/lower the symptoms for Covid-19, such as sore throats, chest infections, and improve both oral and physical hygiene, which reduces the spreading of Covid-19 viral infections. The findings revealed that more than two-thirds (73.0%) of the participants reported that their family members were using Myrrh.