Relationships Between the Use of Medicinal Plants and Animals and Sociodemographic Factors in Brazil: a Systematic Review

In Brazil, a developing country with rich biological and cultural diversity, several species of plants and animals are used to treat diseases. We conducted a systematic review on the use of medicinal animals and plants and identify whether there are correlations between sociodemographic variables and the use of animal species and medicinal plants. We used the databases Web of Science, Science Direct, Scielo, Scopus, and PubMed to obtain 29,147 titles, including 41 studies of 47 communities between 2006 and 2015. We used the human development index, sanitary sewage, number of health establishments, and number of residents per municipality to investigate potential correlations with the number of animal and plant species (native and exotic for both taxa). The most frequently cited of the 147 families of plants identified as used in traditional medicine were: Lamiaceae, Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, and Rutaceae. The most frequently cited of the 68 families of animals mentioned were: Phasianidae, Teiidae, Bovidae, Iguanidae and Apidae. Among sociodemographic variables, only the number of residents per household showed a significant correlation with exotic animal species, although other variables showed relationship trends. Traditional medicine in Brazil plays an important role in knowledge about these natural resources, enabling alternatives to mitigate potentially negative impacts that local sociodemographic factors have on the health of human communities.