Use of traditional medicines among conventional medicine practitioners in Burkina Faso

Abstract

The integration of traditional medicine into biomedical health care practice is highly dependent on its acceptability by conventional medical practitioners. Its use by conventional practitioners was previously unknown in Burkina Faso. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of traditional medicine use and the frequency of occurrence of adverse events associated with this use among conventional medical practitioners in Burkina Faso. The majority of the practitioners surveyed were women (56.1%) and the average age was 39.7±7 years. Nurses (56.1%), midwives (31.4%) and physicians (8.2%) were the most represented professions. The prevalence of the use of traditional medicines in the 12 months preceding the survey was 75.6%. Malaria was the main medical reason for using traditional medicines (28%). The frequency of reported adverse events was 10% and mainly concerned gastrointestinal disorders (78.3%). The majority of conventional medical practitioners in Burkina Faso use traditional medicines for their health problems. This finding suggests the effective integration of traditional medicine into biomedical health care practice which could benefit from good acceptability by these professionals.