Onyiaorah Adaora Amaoge, Kizor-Akaraiwe Nkiru, Nwosu Sebastian N N
Department of Ophthalmology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
Department of Ophthalmology, Enugu State University of Science and Technology Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria.
J West Afr Coll Surg. 2022 Apr-Jun;12(2):7-11. doi: 10.4103/jwas.jwas_62_22. Epub 2022 Aug 27.
The aim of this article was to determine the healthcare provider first sought, reasons for the choice, and symptom duration before hospital presentation among traders in rural Nigeria.
This was a cross-sectional study of traders at a rural Nigerian market, selected by systematic random sampling. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on sociodemographics, eye disease symptoms, eye care provider first sought, and reasons for choice. The analysis was carried out with Statistical Package for Social Sciences using descriptive and inferential statistics with an alpha level at 0.05.
Of the 177 traders, 88 (49.7%) were males and 89 (50.3%) were females. The mean age was 46.5 ± 13.75 years (range 19-72). Of the 83 traders who had ocular symptoms 23 (27.7%) never sought any care. The eye care providers first sought were patent medicine vendors 22 (26.5%), orthodox hospital 17 (20.5%), eye glass vendors 3 (3.6%), and traditional healers 3 (3.6%). The median symptom duration before presentation to an eye health facility was 83 days. Reasons for not seeking orthodox eye care first included cost 33 (39.8%), 'ailment not serious' 22 (26.5%), and advice from friends 7 (8.4%). Females were more likely to seek orthodox care (χ=4.22, P=0.04), whereas males were more likely to feel that their ailment was not serious. Traders aged >50 years were less likely to seek any care for eye ailment (χ =8.41, P=0.04).
Traders with eye disorders seek care late and most first seek care outside the orthodox hospital. Cost and feeling that ailment was not serious are barriers to seeking orthodox eye care. Eye health education and cost reduction would improve uptake of orthodox eye care services.
本文旨在确定尼日利亚农村地区商贩首次寻求的医疗服务提供者、选择该提供者的原因以及就医前症状持续的时间。
这是一项对尼日利亚农村市场商贩进行的横断面研究，通过系统随机抽样选取研究对象。采用结构化问卷获取社会人口统计学信息、眼部疾病症状、首次寻求的眼部护理提供者以及选择原因等信息。使用社会科学统计软件包进行分析，采用描述性和推断性统计方法，α水平设定为0.05。
177名商贩中，88名（49.7%）为男性，89名（50.3%）为女性。平均年龄为46.5±13.75岁（范围19 - 72岁）。83名有眼部症状的商贩中，23名（27.7%）从未寻求过任何治疗。首次寻求的眼部护理提供者分别为成药小贩22名（26.5%）、正规医院17名（20.5%）、眼镜小贩3名（3.6%）和传统治疗师3名（3.6%）。前往眼部保健机构就诊前症状持续的中位数为83天。未首先寻求正规眼部护理的原因包括费用33名（39.8%）、“病情不严重”22名（26.5%）以及朋友的建议7名（8.4%）。女性更倾向于寻求正规护理（χ=4.22，P=0.04），而男性更倾向于认为自己的病情不严重。年龄大于50岁的商贩因眼部疾病寻求任何治疗的可能性较小（χ =8.41，P=0.04）。
患有眼部疾病的商贩就医较晚，且大多数人首先在正规医院以外寻求治疗。费用和认为病情不严重是寻求正规眼部护理的障碍。眼部健康教育和降低费用将提高正规眼部护理服务的利用率。
