Abstract

Background: Traditional medicine involves the use of herbal remedies, animal parts, minerals, spiritual divinations, and traditional bone settings. Practice of traditional medicine varies from country to country and from region to region, these experiences are passed from generation to generation although the practices evolve over the years. The use of traditional medicine among African societies is an age long practice which continues to flourish in spite of growth of western civilization and religious enlightenment. In some parts of Nigeria, a majority of the population relies on traditional healers to meet their primary health needs and for many others it is their only source of health care.

Objectives: The general objective was to assess the knowledge, attitude and use of traditional medicines by mothers of under-five children presenting at Iklin Specialist Hospital, Ojota, Lagos State.

Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study involving mothers of under-fives at Iklin Specialist Hospital, Ojota, Lagos State using a structured questionnaire on the knowledge, attitude and use of herbal medications for under-five children will be used. The researcher used simple random sampling because it is a convenient method of sampling which in turn allows for calculation of sampling error. A sample size of 165 was used.

Results: The knowledge of traditional medicine was high among our research participants, 132 (90.4%) know about traditional medicine while 14 (9.6%) were not aware. A great percentage of the participants 88 (62.9%) got to know about traditional medicine from their families and relations.

There was a statistically significant difference in the age of mothers that used traditional medicine in their under-five children (mean= 32.06 SD = 4.30) and those that did not (mean = 29.89 SD= 4 24), t (130) = 2.92, p<0.5. Chi-square tests of independence were calculated comparing the use of traditional medicine in under-five children and religion, tribe, educational level, occupation and marital status.

Conclusion: The knowledge of traditional medicine was high among mothers of under-five children.  Similarly, use of traditional medicine by mothers in their under-five children was prevalently high, 71 (53.4%). The high knowledge and use of traditional medicines could be attributed to ones’ ethnic group, cultural beliefs among other factors. There was a statistically significant difference in the age of mothers that use traditional medicine in their under-five children (mean= 32.06 SD = 4.30) and those that did not (mean = 29.89 SD= 4 24), t (130) = 2.92, p<0.5.  Likewise, a significant relationship was found in the use of traditional medicine and tribe (Chi square (3) = 10.79, p<0.05), use of traditional medicine and marital status (Chi square (2) = 7.8, p<0.05) but not with religion and educational status.  Lemon, ginger, garlic and moringa leaves were the most commonly used TMs while animal therapy and urine accounted for the least used TMs. Fever, convulsions and Diarrhoea were cited as the common conditions that mothers treated with TMs.