Chesetsi Lisemelo L, Ross Andrew
Department of Nursing and Public Health, College of Health Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.
Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. 2025 Jul 31;17(1):e1-e7. doi: 10.4102/phcfm.v17i1.4936.
BACKGROUND: Many women persist in using traditional medicine despite the evidence that traditional medicines have the potential to harm both the unborn baby and the mother. Data on the extent of use of traditional medicine by women in Lesotho during pregnancy are largely unavailable. AIM: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of traditional medicine use during pregnancy among Basotho women and identify the associated factors. SETTING: The study took place in Ha-Shalabeng, Ha-Molengoane and Ha-Setoko, Lesotho. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was adopted, data were collected through a structured questionnaire, coded into Excel, and analysed using SPSS. Frequency distribution tables and graphs were used to describe the data on women. The χ2 test examined the association between categorical dependent and independent variables. RESULTS: The prevalence of traditional medicine use during pregnancy was 40%. The factors significantly influencing traditional medicine use, included age (p 0.01), educational level (p 0.01), location (p 0.01), transport availability (p 0.04), belief in the efficacy of traditional medicine (p 0.01), reasons for the type of care (p 0.01) and recommendations from parents (p 0.03). CONCLUSION: The utilisation of traditional medicine during pregnancy was found to be high. Therefore, it is crucial to have a policy in Lesotho that regulates the usage and safety of traditional medicine. Contribution: The data would be crucial in informing future research and shaping the development and implementation of traditional medicine policy, thus addressing the existing policy gap regarding traditional medicine in Lesotho.
背景:尽管有证据表明传统药物可能对未出生的婴儿和母亲造成伤害,但许多女性仍坚持使用传统药物。莱索托女性在孕期使用传统药物的程度的数据大多不可得。 目的:本研究旨在确定巴索托族女性孕期使用传统药物的患病率,并确定相关因素。 地点:该研究在莱索托的哈-沙拉本、哈-莫伦戈阿内和哈-塞托科进行。 方法:采用横断面设计,通过结构化问卷收集数据,编码到Excel中,并使用SPSS进行分析。频率分布表和图表用于描述女性数据。χ²检验用于检验分类因变量和自变量之间的关联。 结果:孕期使用传统药物的患病率为40%。显著影响传统药物使用的因素包括年龄(p<0.01)、教育水平(p<0.01)、地点(p<0.01)、交通便利性(p<0.04)、对传统药物疗效的信念(p<0.01)、护理类型的原因(p<0.01)和父母的建议(p<0.03)。 结论:发现孕期传统药物的使用率很高。因此,莱索托制定一项规范传统药物使用和安全性的政策至关重要。贡献:这些数据对于为未来研究提供信息以及塑造传统药物政策的制定和实施至关重要,从而解决莱索托在传统药物方面现有的政策差距。
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