Purpose: To
determine health seeking behaviour in relation to non-orthodox eye medication
use among patients attending a primary eye health center in Nigeria. Materials
and Methods: It was a cross-sectional study of consecutive respondents.
Participants’ socio-demographic profile, types and pattern of harmful
traditional eye medications (HTEMs) use were obtained using a pre-tested
questionnaire. Data analysis was by SPSS version 20.0. Results: Of the 303
patients enrolled in the study, 153 (50.5%) were males and 150 (49.5%) were
females. The age range was from 13 years old to 94 years old with a mean of
53.8 ± 17.05 years old. Majority of the subjects (74.3%) used orthodox medical
outfits for their eye care needs. The prevalence of use of HTEMs was 11.9%.
Common forms of TEMs used were herbs 24 (66.7%), sugar water 3 (8.3%), breast
milk 3 (8.3%) and onions 6 (16.7%). There was statistically significant association
between age and use of HTEMs (p = 604.27,X2=<
0.001, 95% CI = 0.000 - 0.010), and health seeking behaviour (p = 808.70, X2=< 0.001, 95% CI = 0.000 - 0.010). Conclusion:
Eye care providers and health care managers must have good knowledge of the
various factors that negatively influence utilization of eye care services and
be responsive to them.
Cite this paper
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