Utilization of Traditional Medicines among Diabetic Patients in Pyuthan Municipality, Nepal

Abstract

Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus is a non-communicable disease caused by a variety of causative factors, along with a variety of treatment options. Traditional medicine(TM) is entirely based on indigenous knowledge. Modern health care is primarily supported and administered by the public sector but is still not accessible to remote residents. Therefore, traditional healing approaches are carried out with one's efforts, knowledge, and skills. Thus, the main aim of the study was to assess the utilization of traditional medicine among diabetic patients in Pyuthan municipality, Nepal.

Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 212 diabetic patients of selected wards of Pyuthan municipality after the ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee. The study area was selected using a simple random sampling technique whereas the respondents were selected using snowball sampling. Data was collected using an interview-guided self-administered questionnaire directly from the diabetic patients after informed consent. The collected data was entered and analyzed through the SPSS version 20.

Results: Nearly half of the 212 respondents (47.2%) were TM users, with the majority (95%) following the Ayurveda system of TM, owing to the fact that TM has no side effects (90 %). TM users were found to be using it along with conventional medicine (69%) without informing doctors (89.9%).

Conclusions: Traditional medicine is in increasing trend throughout the globe. Almost half of the respondents were found to be TM users which were due to no side effects of TM. However, system-based traditional healing practices should be followed with the consultation of doctors or other health personnel.