Awareness and Attitude of Parents and Caregivers Regarding Harmful Traditional Medical Practices Towards Children in Aseer Region of Saudi Arabia

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic Characteristics of the Respondents (N=599)

Sociodemographic Variables		N (Frequency)	% (Percentage)
Age (years)	≤18	34	5.7
	19–30	133	22.2
	31–40	122	20.4
	41–49	254	42.4
	≥50	56	9.3
Place of Residence	City	461	77
	Village (years)	133	22.2
	Desert	5	0.8
Educational Qualification	Undergraduate or Higher	300	50.1
	Secondary qualification	155	25.9
	Middle certification	23	3.8
	Primary qualification	22	3.7
Preferred medication type	Traditional	335	55.9
	Modern	57	9.5
	Both	207	34.6

Table 2 Prevalence of Traditional Medicine Commonly Used by Parents and Caregivers

Type of Traditional Medicine Commonly Used	N (Frequency	% (Percentage)
Herbs	170	28.4
Belly massage (years)	165	27.6
Oil ointment	65	10.9
Herbs, Belly massage (years) and oil paint	99	16.5
Herbs & Oil ointment	11	1.8
Cupping	44	7.3
Belly massage (years) and Oil ointment	44	7.3
Belly massage (years) and Herbs	1	0.2
Total	599	100

Table 3 Relationship Between Sociodemographic Characteristics and Choice of Treatment

Variables	Choice of Treatment	Mean	Standard Deviation	F-value	P-value
Age (years)	Modern	2.860	1.0426	5.273	0.005
	Traditional	3.281	1.0801
	Both	3.382	1.0768
Place of Resident	Modern	1.368	0.5221	2.684	0.069
	Traditional	1.224	0.4175
	Both	1.227	0.4639
Education Level	Modern	2.135	1.1586	2.303	0.101
	Traditional	1.790	1.0258
	Both	1.742	0.9829

Table 4 Sources of Information Regarding the Use of Traditional Medicine

Sources of Information Regarding the use traditional Medicine	N (Frequency)	% (Percentage)
Previous Personal Experiences	223	37.2
Family and relatives	188	31.4
Previous personal experiences, Family and relatives	77	12.9
Family and relatives, Internet and social media	44	7.3
Internet and social media	22	3.7
Family and relatives, Internet and social media, Previous personal experience	11	1.8
Books and magazines	11	1.8
Previous Personal Experiences, Internet and social media	12	2.0
All of the options	11	1.8
Total	599	100

Table 5 Logistic Regression Analysis for Factors Influencing Choice Between Modern and Traditional Medicine

Triggering Factors		Sociodemographic Variables	B	S.E.	Wald	Odds Ratio	95% C.I.	P
a. Ease of access		Place of Residence	−2.787	1.051	7.026	0.062	0.008–0.484	0.008
		Education Level	−4.558	1.307	12.163	0.010	0.001–0.136	<0.001
		Age (years)	2.857	0.670	18.182	17.412	4.683–64.744	<0.001
b. Transferred experience		Place of Residence	−19.616	0.000		3.025E-9	3.025E-9 - 3.025E-9
		Education Level	−3.308	1.312	6.362	0.037	0.003–0.478	0.012
		Age (years)	1.939	0.707	7.515	6.949	1.738–27.789	0.006
c. Fear of complication		Place of Residence	−3.761	1.119	11.292	0.023	0.003–0.209	0.001
		Education Level	−3.289	1.287	6.534	0.037	0.003–0.464	0.011
		Age (years)	2.832	0.657	18.576	16.976	4.683–61.532	<0.001
d. Cost of licenses and ease		Place of Residence	−13.730	1679.623	0.000	1.090E-6	0.000.^b	0.939
		Education Level	−0.419	1.358	0.095	0.658	0.046–9.411	0.757
		Age (years)	4.681	1.168	16.060	107.828	10.929–1063.835	<0.001
e. Some close experience		Place of Residence	4.642	4.513	1.058	103.801	0.015–720,046.405	0.304
		Education Level	−10.633	43.970	0.058	2.410E-5	9.018E-43 - 6.442E+32	0.809
		Age (years)	3.199	0.735	18.946	24.499	5.803–103.435	<0.001
f. Sometimes no, the doctor can diagnose correctly.		Place of Residence	−2.068	1.002	4.258	0.126	0.018–0.901	0.039
		Education Level	−3.714	1.287	8.325	0.024	0.002–0.304	0.004
		Age (years)	2.675	0.662	16.333	14.511	3.966–53.101	<0.001
g. Family & Community influence		Place of Residence	−0.888	0.942	0.888	0.412	0.065–2.609	0.346
		Education Level	−1.289	1.377	0.877	0.275	0.019–4.092	0.349
		Age (years)	1.715	0.691	6.151	5.555	1.433–21.538	0.013
h. Cost of licenses		Place of Residence	1.121	0.937	1.431	3.068	0.489–19.249	0.232
		Education Level	−2.125	1.236	2.955	0.119	0.011–1.347	0.086
		Age (years)	−2.276	0.827	7.583	0.103	0.020–0.519	0.006
i. I resort to it		Place of Residence	−20.623	0.000		1.105E-9	1.105E-9 - 1.105E-9
		Education Level	−9.807	25.815	0.144	5.505E-5	5.848E-27 - 5.182E+17	0.704
		Age (years)	0.791	0.773	1.048	2.206	0.485–10.039	0.306
j. I do not cure in modern medicine		Place of Residence	−20.623	0.000		1.105E-9	1.105E-9 - 1.105E-9
		Education Level	−9.807	25.815	0.144	5.505E-5	5.848E-27 - 5.182E+17	0.704
		Age (years)	0.791	0.773	1.048	2.206	0.485–10.039	0.306
k. After modern medical treatment and it was useless, I went to the traditional medicine		Place of Residence	−14.212	2721.906	0.000	6.725E-7	0.000.^b	0.996
		Education Level	−7.093	12.025	0.348	0.001	4.825E-14 – 14.30E-10	0.555
		Age (years)	−6.296	9.160	0.472	0.002	2.943E-11 - 115,449.19	0.492
l. Not aware of modern medicine to cure the disease I treated		Place of Residence	−16.245	2062.395	0.000	8.809E-8	0.000.^b	0.994
		Education Level	−1.855	1.362	1.854	0.157	0.011–2.260	0.173
		Age (years)	3.985	0.959	17.281	53.784	8.217–352.060	<0.001
m. Fast-acting, no waiting		Place of Residence	−16.245	2062.395	0.000	8.809E-8	0.000.^b	0.994
		Education Level	−1.855	1.362	1.854	0.157	0.011–2.260	0.173
		Age (years)	3.985	0.959	17.281	53.784	8.217–352.060	<0.001
n. Sometimes modern medicine does not treat the ailment like traditional medicine will		Place of Residence	−18.668	1685.603	0.001	7.808E-9	0.000.^b	0.991
		Education Level	−11.028	27.823	0.157	1.624E-5	3.373E-29 – 7.80E+18	0.692
		Age (years)	3.358	0.766	19.198	28.743	6.399–129.111	<0.001
o. To hasten recovery		Place of Residence	−16.245	2062.395	0.000	8.809E-8	0.000.^b	0.994
		Education Level	−1.855	1.362	1.854	0.157	0.011–2.260	0.173
		Age (years)	3.985	0.959	17.281	53.784	8.217–352.060	<0.001
p. It works effectively		Place of Residence	2.102	1.934	1.181	8.181	0.185–362.207	0.277
		Education Level	−7.934	36.510	0.047	0.000	3.001E-35 – 4.283E+27	0.828
		Age (years)	0.401	1.293	0.096	1.494	0.119–18.818	0.756

Notes: P <0.05: indicate statistical significance.

Abbreviations: B, Estimated coefficients; S.E, Standard Error; 95% C.I, 95% Confidence Interval.

Table 6 Respondents’ Answers on the Awareness, Effectiveness and Complications of Harmful Traditional Medical Practices (N=599)

Variables	Respondents Answers		X^2	p-value
		N (%)
Awareness	Yes	278 (46.4%)	33.500	<0.001
	No	244 (40.7%)
	Not Sure	77 (12.9%)
Effectiveness	Yes	288 (48%)	56.937	<0.001
	No	234 (39.1%)
	Not Sure	77 (12.9%)
Complications	Yes	210 (35.1%)	92.858	<0.001
	No	356 (59.4%)
	Not Sure	33 (5.5%)

Notes: X², chi-square; N, frequency; %, percentage.