Clinical Optometry (Dec 2021)
Attitude Towards Traditional Eye Medicine and Associated Factors Among Adult Ophthalmic Patients Attending University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital-Tertiary Eye Care and Training Center, Northwest Ethiopia
Abstract
Biruk Lelisa Eticha, Haile Woretaw Alemu, Aragaw Kegne Assaye, Mikias Mered Tilahun Department of Optometry, School of Medicine, University of Gondar, Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Gondar, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Mikias Mered TilahunDepartment of Optometry, School of Medicine, University of Gondar, Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, PO Box: 196, Gondar, EthiopiaTel +251 927270318Fax +251 58-114 1240Email [email protected]: Traditional eye medicine is a form of biologically based therapies, practices, or partially processed organic or inorganic agents that can be applied to the eye and lead to a blinding complication. Attitude towards those medicines plays a pertinent role in the practice of those traditional eye medicines.Objective: To determine attitude towards traditional eye medicine and associated factors among adult ophthalmic patients attending University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital-Tertiary Eye Care and Training Center, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020.Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 417 newly presenting adult ophthalmic patients who were selected by using a systematic random sampling method from June 22 to August 11, 2020. The data from the interview-based structured questionnaire were entered into Epi Info 7 and analyzed by SPSS 20. Frequency and cross-tabulations were used for descriptive analysis. Association between variables was analyzed using binary logistic regression through the enter method with a 95% confidence interval.Results: A total of 417 subjects with a 98.8% response rate have participated in the study. Of the total study subjects, 60.7% (253) (95% CI: 19– 26%) had a positive attitude towards traditional eye medicine. Residing in a rural area (AOR=6.46 (95% CI: 2.89– 14.45)), positive family history of traditional eye medicine use (AOR=8.01 (95% CI: 4.17– 15.37)) and availability of traditional healer (AOR=19.43 (95% CI: 12.06– 31.64)) were significantly associated with a positive attitude towards traditional eye medicine.Conclusion and Recommendation: Most adult ophthalmic patients had a positive attitude towards traditional eye medicine. Residing in a rural, availability of a traditional healer, and positive family history of traditional eye medicine use had a significant positive association with a positive attitude. Educating the traditional healers on safe practices is crucial in reducing the burden.Keywords: attitude, traditional healer, traditional eye medicine, Ethiopia, Gondar
