Abstract
Background Traditional medicine is the sum total of knowledge, talents, and practices that are used to uphold health, as well as to avert, identify, improve, or treat illnesses. Sociodemographic/economic characteristics, culture, and environment can influence the preference and practice of traditional medicine. Objective To assess the preference and practices of traditional medicine and associated factors. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 271 residents of Jimma town. The data were collected by interviewing selected households. The households were selected by a simple random sampling technique. The data were analysed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics were used for organizing, describing, and summarizing the data. Chi-square (X2) test was used to identify factors associated with the preference and practice of traditional medicine. Results More than half (221(81.5%)) of the participants practiced traditional medicine. Religion (X2 = 17.18; p=0.001), marital status (X2 = 15.42; p=0.001), occupation (X2 = 19.74; p=0.001), and educational level (X2 = 28.39; p ≤ 0.001) were the sociodemographic factors determining the use of traditional medicine. However, 25 (9.2%) of the participants preferred to use traditional medicine. Affordability (25 (100%)), religious affiliation (21 (84%)), and distance from home (20 (80%)) were some reasons for preference. Educational level (X2 = 15.56; p=0.04), marital status (X2 = 12.39; p=0.04), and occupation (X2 = 15.61; p=0.003) were the factors affecting their preference for traditional medicine. Conclusion A majority of the participants practiced traditional medicine use. Religion, marital status, occupation, and educational level were factors affecting the practice of the participants. More than half of the participants did not prefer to use traditional medicine. Affordability, religious affiliation, and distance from home were some reasons for preferring traditional medicine.
Highlights
Traditional medicine, an art of treatment practices, strategies, knowledge, and beliefs including plant, animal, and mineral-based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques, and workouts applied singularly or in combination to treat, identify, and prevent illnesses or uphold the well-being
Most (137 (62%)) of the participants did not check the safety of traditional medicine when they used it in combination with a prescription drug, and 141 (63.8%) of the participants obtained traditional medicine they used from traditional medicine healer (Table 2)
The practice of traditional medicine was 81.5%. e finding was higher than the study conducted in North Central Ethiopia [21] which states that the practice of traditional medicine use is 35.8%
Summary
Traditional medicine, an art of treatment practices, strategies, knowledge, and beliefs including plant-, animal-, and mineral-based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques, and workouts applied singularly or in combination to treat, identify, and prevent illnesses or uphold the well-being. As to the WHO, 65–80% of the world’s healthcare practice includes the use of traditional medicine in some way [5]. In Africa, traditional medicine is part of the first set of response mechanisms for medical emergencies, whereas in others, the whole health system of the community relies on medicines embedded in indigenous practice and belief [8]. Traditional medicine is the sum total of knowledge, talents, and practices that are used to uphold health, as well as to avert, identify, improve, or treat illnesses. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 271 residents of Jimma town. e data were collected by interviewing selected households. e households were selected by a simple random sampling technique
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