A cross-sectional survey on awareness and practice of Ayurveda in COVID prevention and management among selected populations across Kerala

Abstract

Background: Despite the known richness of traditional medicine in India, it has not been implemented successfully on a widespread scale in managing COVID-19.4 In this context, it was reported that the state of Kerala reduced the mortality rate and rapid spread of the infection in the first year of managing patients with COVID-19. This cross-sectional survey was conducted at the present juncture for analyzing the impact of Ayurveda amid a selected populate of Kerala for its facets of health practices, home remedies, lifestyle guidelines, and medicines. Aims: To study the extent of awareness among a selected population across the state of Kerala pertaining to the usage of Ayurveda medicine and lifestyle guidelines. Settings and Design: A structured questionnaire was developed on a web-based platform of the survey monkey application and was made available to 2688 people via social media groups. Results: Among the studied respondents across Kerala, a majority were aware about the existence of preventive medicine (75%) and Ayurveda treatment (67.5%) for COVID-19. Against this background, about 77.5% of people had undergone either Ayurveda treatment or home remedies and also 82.5% of people had changed their lifestyle with Ayurveda for the same. Conclusion: The population of India, in particular that of Kerala, are inextricably connected with Ayurveda through the multiple facets of their culture, food, and lifestyle guidelines. The people of Kerala are immensely acclimatized to adopt Ayurveda as an alternative system of medicine as it has been deep-rooted in their daily subsistence over ages and was well reflected here in this study.