Herbal product use by African American older women.

The purposes of this study were to identify patterns of herbal product use for health promotion and self-care management among older African American women, to explore their use of herbal products to manage disease-specific symptoms, and to compare users of herbal products to nonusers. The sample consisted of 57 community-residing African American women age 65 years and older. Of the sample, 33% used herbal product(s) within the past year. Those who used herbal products perceived their overall health to be better than those who did not use herbal products. However, differences in demographic characteristics and locus of control between herbal users and nonusers were not significant. More than 40% of the herbals used were not discussed with health care providers. Most participants using herbals were mixing herbal, prescription, and over-the-counter products. Indiscriminate use of herbal products in combination with or in place of conventional medicines can be problematic and costly.