Knowledge, attitude and practice of traditional eye medicine use among patients attending a tertiary care hospital

Purpose This study is intended to assess Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of traditional eye medicine (TEM) use among the patients attending a tertiary care hospital. Settings and design Hospital-Based, Cross-Sectional, Observational Study Methods and material Questionnaire-based assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice regarding TEM use. Results TEM usage was not gender-dependent. The dependent factors were age, marital status, religious beliefs and socio-economic status. Married and lower socio-economic status participants were more prone to seek TEM. Commonly used TEM were, rose water (31.3%), castor oil (17.9%) and Cucumber (14.9%). 35.8% used TEM following foreign body falling into eye. The commonest symptoms for using TEM were redness (73.1%) and watering (59.7%). 71.64% sought TEM following acquaintances’ advice. 43.28% self-medicated. 87.1% did not have any improvement in symptoms following use of TEM. 58.2% consulted an ophthalmologist within 1 week of no improvement in initial symptoms/following complications from TEM usage. Lack of knowledge was the commonest reason quoted for delay in consultations. Conclusions TEM is ineffective, cause ocular complications and can even lead to irreversible blindness. This study gives us an in-depth idea on the need for health education, awareness and reform policies to improve eye health.