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Background Many people use alternative medicine (AM), but the extent of this use has not been widely studied. Methods A community-based cross sectional study was carried out to evaluate the attitude and extent of use of AM stratified by sociodemographic characteristics in the last year 2009 among 1548 rural dwellers of Saft el-laban village in El-Minia, chosen by a systematic random sample. A structured questionnaire was filled by the investigators through interview with rural dwellers. Results Nearly one third (32.9%) of respondents had used AM and reported that they knew about it from family members or friends. Herbs were the most common type used. Respondents’ reasons for taking AM were varied and included reasons such as “economically reasonable” (41.0%), “recommendation from family/friends” (34.9%), “effectiveness of AM” (33.9%), “easily accessible” (31.0%). Marital status, age, sex, educational level and occupation of respondents had statistically significant effects on respondents’ attitudes [ P Conclusion The study emphasized the wide use of AM by rural dwellers in El-Minia, highlighting need for health care practitioners and other health care givers to be aware of this practice and make efforts in obtaining information about modalities used. |
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