A Different Type of Medicine: Women's Experiences With Ophthalmic Diseases in Rural and Urban Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

I conducted a study to understand how urban and rural women conceptualized eye diseases in Tamil Nadu state ¹ . I chose to examine eye diseases because ailments such as cataracts, glaucoma, refractive error, and diabetic retinopathy rank among the most serious diseases of Indian women. I collected observational, survey, and interview data to compare women from rural and urban areas. In line with my expectations, rural women were more likely to rely upon non-medical means of treatment than their urban counterparts. Contrary to expectations, however, I found that urban and rural Tamil women's overall dependence on nonmedical means was not excessive. Based on the study's findings, it appears that both urban and rural women express a marked preference for both traditional and modern medical treatments—a phenomenon that is known as medical pluralism. Rural participants expressed a greater interest in medical pluralism than their urban counterparts. The results of the study lead me to believe that medical pluralism may be associated with the patient's geographic residence. I conclude this article with a discussion of the consequences of medical pluralism for women's health and overall societal development in Tamil Nadu.

The author acknowledges Dr. C.A.K. Shanmugham, Dr. S. Aravind, Dr. G. Venkatasamy, the Emory SIRE program, Emory College Dean Joanne Brzinski, Emory University Professor Irene Browne, and blind reviewers for their invaluable contributions to this work.

Notes

¹ Tamil Nadu is a southern state in India. Its seat of government is Chennai.

² This vignette is based on an interview I had with a study participant. A pseudonym is used to protect her actual identity.

I have used a pseudonym to protect those affiliated with the actual hospital.

∗The distribution is significant.

∗The distribution is not significant.

∗The distribution is significant.