PREVALANCE OF TRADTIONAL AND COMPLEMANTRY MEDICINE USE IN WOLEKA HEALTHE CENTER, GONDAR CITY NORTHWEST ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Background: Traditional and complementary medicines are being widely used by patients worldwide. However, evidences regarding traditional and complementary medicine use by patients in Ethiopia more than 80% of the population uses traditional and complementary medicinesto help meet their health care needs. Objective: the purpose of this study is to assess the prevalence of traditional and complementary medicine use in Woleka health center Gondar city, Northwest Ethiopia. Method: Data on sociodemographic profile and Traditional and Complementary Medicine (TCM) utilization were collected using a structured, pretested questionnaire from April 01 to May 30, 2017, through interviews with patients visiting Woleka health center. The data was entered, cleaned and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Result: Herbal based medicines (92.4%) were found the most common type of TCM. Among TCM users, 93.7% used TCM as complementary treatment along with the conventional medicine. Traditional herbalist was (90.3%) the most commonly cited source followed by families and friends (70.2%). Easily accessibility of TCM and average monthly income, were significantly associated with the use TCM. Conclusion: Majority of the respondents used TCM along with conventional medicine. Traditional healers are the most common cited sources of recommendation for users and the most commonly used traditional medicine therapies was herbal based medicines.