Prevalence of traditional eye medicine use and its associated factors among adult ophthalmic patients in Gondar region of Ethiopia in 2020

Abstract

: Traditional medicines are commonly used throughout the world, especially in Africa. About 13.2–82.3% of the population uses traditional eye medicine. These are forms of biologically based therapies, practices, or partially processed agents that are applied to the eye or administered orally to achieve a desired ocular therapeutic effect. To determine the prevalence and associated factors of traditional eye medicine use among adult ophthalmic patients attending the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital-Tertiary Eye Care and Training Center, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020. A cross-sectional study within the hospital was conducted on 502 newly admitted adult ophthalmic patients who were selected by using a systemic random sampling method from August 15 to 21 October 2020. Of the total (502) subjects, 93.1% of subjects participated in the study. From the total participants, 22.31% (112) (95% confidence interval (CI: 19–26%)) used traditional eye medicine in the past two years. Positive family history of traditional eye medicine use (Adjusted odds ratio(AOR = 11.1(95% CI: 4.8–25.6)), availability of traditional healers (AOR = 3.7 (95% CI: 1.6–8.6)), residency in the rural (AOR = 24.9 (95% CI: 10.4–59.7)), family income of 300–1,500 adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 6.6 (95% CI: 1.9–22.9)), and ≥ 6 months (AOR = 8.5 (95% CI: 3.02–23.7) were significantly associated with traditional eye medicine use The driving issues for using TEM were the availability and costs of modern medicine. The prevalence of TEM is higher than in the previous study conducted in Ethiopia.

Keywords:

• Prevalence
• traditional eye medicine
• traditional healer Ethiopia
• Gondar

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

Traditional eye medicine is widely practiced around the world. It is employed by the order of traditional healers or local physicians who are well-known for knowing and practicing the most common traditional medicines, or by oneself. Traditional medicines are derived from plant and animal products, spices, or religious beliefs. These situations are commonly observed in communities, particularly among different regions of the world, especially those who are living in rural areas, including Ethiopians. Despite the fact that communities employ traditional eye medicine as a supplemental therapy, the possible risks are not readily apparent.

Acknowledgement

Our deepest gratitude goes to the department of optometry, ophthalmology and our colleagues for their general over view of the research proposal and result write up

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received

Notes on contributors

Biruk Lelisa Eticha

Biruk Lelisa Eticha, Nationality: Ethiopian, Place of work: Gondar, Ethiopia, Sex: male, Lecturer at University of Gondar (BSc, MSc in clinical optometry)

Aragaw Kegne Assaye

Aragaw Kegne Assaye, Date of birth: 30 June 1990, Nationality: Ethiopian, Place of work: Gondar, Ethiopia, Sex: male, Address: mobile, [phone] or [phone], Currently: lecturer at university of Gondar (BSc, MSc in clinical optometry)

Haile Woretaw Alemu

Haile Woretaw Alemu: Nationality: Ethiopian, Place of work: Gondar, Ethiopia, Sex: male, Lecturer at University of Gondar (BSc,MSc in clinical optometry)