{"title":"Traditional eye medicine practice and its determinant factors among ophthalmic patients in the West Bank","authors":"Raghda Atawi, Ahmad Ayed, Ahmad Batran","doi":"10.1177/22799036241243267","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Background: Traditional eye medicine (TEM) is becoming more widely used across the world. Depending on the drugs used, TEM usage can be considered harmful or innocuous. The therapy may induce infection or irreparable blindness in the already injured eye. The aim of the study was to determine the proportion of traditional eye medicine practices and associated factors among adult ophthalmic patients attending ophthalmic clinics in the governmental hospitals in the West Bank. Design and methods: A cross-sectional study conducted on 300 patients. The data was collected using a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Results: The results of the study revealed that 65.7% of people use TEM. The most common symptoms that necessitated the use of traditional eye practice were inflammatory symptoms of the eye (49.2%), blurred vision (15.7%), and allergic conjunctivitis (10.7%). The most common TEM used was tea (34.0%), followed by herbal products (25.4%) and vegetable slices (potato, cucumber, and onion) (14.7%). The most traditional eye treatment was the topical route (92.9%). The majority of prescribers of traditional eye practice were traditional healers (48.7%). Furthermore, the current study found that occupation and the income were predictors of using traditional eye practice among ophthalmic patients attending ophthalmic clinics in selected West Bank hospitals. Conclusion: The proportion of traditional eye medicine practice was high among ophthalmic patients in the West Bank. The predictors of using traditional eye treatment were occupation and the income. The most common TEM used was tea, followed by herbal products and vegetable slices (potato, cucumber, and onion).","PeriodicalId":45958,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Public Health Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Public Health Research","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/22799036241243267","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Traditional eye medicine (TEM) is becoming more widely used across the world. Depending on the drugs used, TEM usage can be considered harmful or innocuous. The therapy may induce infection or irreparable blindness in the already injured eye. The aim of the study was to determine the proportion of traditional eye medicine practices and associated factors among adult ophthalmic patients attending ophthalmic clinics in the governmental hospitals in the West Bank. Design and methods: A cross-sectional study conducted on 300 patients. The data was collected using a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Results: The results of the study revealed that 65.7% of people use TEM. The most common symptoms that necessitated the use of traditional eye practice were inflammatory symptoms of the eye (49.2%), blurred vision (15.7%), and allergic conjunctivitis (10.7%). The most common TEM used was tea (34.0%), followed by herbal products (25.4%) and vegetable slices (potato, cucumber, and onion) (14.7%). The most traditional eye treatment was the topical route (92.9%). The majority of prescribers of traditional eye practice were traditional healers (48.7%). Furthermore, the current study found that occupation and the income were predictors of using traditional eye practice among ophthalmic patients attending ophthalmic clinics in selected West Bank hospitals. Conclusion: The proportion of traditional eye medicine practice was high among ophthalmic patients in the West Bank. The predictors of using traditional eye treatment were occupation and the income. The most common TEM used was tea, followed by herbal products and vegetable slices (potato, cucumber, and onion).
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Public Health Research (JPHR) is an online Open Access, peer-reviewed journal in the field of public health science. The aim of the journal is to stimulate debate and dissemination of knowledge in the public health field in order to improve efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency of public health interventions to improve health outcomes of populations. This aim can only be achieved by adopting a global and multidisciplinary approach. The Journal of Public Health Research publishes contributions from both the “traditional'' disciplines of public health, including hygiene, epidemiology, health education, environmental health, occupational health, health policy, hospital management, health economics, law and ethics as well as from the area of new health care fields including social science, communication science, eHealth and mHealth philosophy, health technology assessment, genetics research implications, population-mental health, gender and disparity issues, global and migration-related themes. In support of this approach, JPHR strongly encourages the use of real multidisciplinary approaches and analyses in the manuscripts submitted to the journal. In addition to Original research, Systematic Review, Meta-analysis, Meta-synthesis and Perspectives and Debate articles, JPHR publishes newsworthy Brief Reports, Letters and Study Protocols related to public health and public health management activities.