Prevalence and attitude towards tradomedical practices among mothers of under five children in Aba

Abstract

Background: Traditional medicine refers to health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs incorporating plant, animal and mineral techniques with exercises applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses or maintain wellbeing. In an ideal society, the feats of wellbeing are achieved through adequate health system.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and attitude towards tradomedical practices among mothers of under five children in Aba.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study carried out in Aba, Abia State between June and August 2018. Pretested self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 384 respondents who consented to participate in the study. Data was entered and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version  20 software.

Results: Majority (94.3%) of our respondents had used one or more forms of herbal medication. 28.9% admitted traditional medicine is the best form of  treatment. Most of them, 92.5% have assessed other forms of treatment of which 33.9% preferred traditional and 41.7% did encourage other mothers to embrace  traditional medicine.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated high prevalence of use of trado-medical interventions among mothers of under-five children. We recommend more awareness on the adverse effects of trado-medical interventions as well as continued health education on treatment of common paediatric illnesses.

Keywords: Trado-medical, Prevalence, Attitude