Introduction. The use of medicinal plants, their geographical distribution, preparation methods, forms of administration, among others, are issues that require more research and at the moment there are no validated tools or instruments to retrieve this information. Objectives. To design and validate a questionnaire that identifies the use of medicinal plants. Design. Descriptive, bservational and transversal study. Location. Rural parishes surrounding the city of Babahoyo, located in the province of Los Rios, Ecuador. Participants. Heads of households in rural communities. Methods. A questionnaire called U-PlanMed was designed and then reviewed by a multidisciplinary team of experts in order to validate its logicality and content. The survey was also administered to 30 different heads of households on two occasions separated by 20-day intervals in the months of January and February 2015....

Introduction. The therapeutic use of medicinal plants, as a substitute for pharmaceutical drugs, has been applied since ancient times to cure or relieve disease; however, there is still not enough evidence to strengthen herbal medicine within health systems. Objectives. To identify the usual practices of health care, developed by the rural population of Babahoyo, Ecuador. Design. Ethnographic qualitative study; quantitative observational and transversal study. Setting. Babahoyo, Ecuador rural population. Participants. Family heads 17 to 72 years old, 58% female and 42% men. Methods. In depth interviews were conducted using orienting questions, applied to focus groups, to learn about their ideas, beliefs, meanings, regarding health care practices. Main outcome measures. Health care practices, diseases treated with medicinal plants. Results. Three health care practices and 44 diseases trea...

Introduction: Skin diseases occupy the third place among the ten causes of general morbidity in Ecuador, and traditional medicine practices are the most frequent therapeutic options in rural sectors. Objective: To identify the medicinal plants used for treatment of skin diseases. Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional study. Place: Two rural Babahoyo city parishes named Pimocha and Febres-Cordero, and located south of the Los Ríos province, Ecuador. Participants: Persons responsible for family care consisted in 198 women (61.7%) and 123 men (38.3%), 17 to 76 years old. Interventions: Previous informed consent, direct observations, interviews and surveys were conducted; the U-PlanMed questionnaire was used. Main outcome measures: Plant species and therapeutic uses. Results: Ten species of plants and their therapeutic applications for skin diseases were identified, such as acne, burns, prur...

Identifica los tipos de plantas medicinales, los usos y efectos que produce en el estado de salud de la población de los sectores rurales del Cantón Babahoyo. Es un estudio cualitativo etnográfico, cuantitativo descriptivo, observacional y trasversal. Participan 350 jefes de familia, de edades entre 17 y 72 años, 58 % mujeres y 42% hombres. Utiliza el cuestionario U-PlanMed para identificar las plantas y sus aplicaciones, preguntas norteadoras aplicadas a grupos focales para conocer sus ideas, creencias, significados y conocimientos respecto a las plantas y sus formas de uso, y el cuestionario Euroqol- 5D para evaluar el estado de salud de la población. Se identifica 79 especies agrupadas en 41 familias, el mayor número de especies corresponde a las familias Lamiaceae y Asteracaea. Se identifican 44 enfermedades siendo las más frecuentes, las afecciones del sistema digestivo, enfe...