Iyun B F, Tomson G
Department of Geography, Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Soc Sci Med. 1996 Feb;42(3):437-45. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(95)00103-4.
The focus of this research was on what mothers do when their children suffer from ARI at household level in rural settlements in Oyo State, Nigeria. A total of 419 mothers were interviewed. The study has combined three research methods, namely semi-structured questionnaire, in-depth interview and focus group discussion to get an insight into their perceptions in relation to cause and treatment of the disease. Most mothers regard ARI episodes as ordinary coughs and colds. They strongly believe that these are mostly caused by exposure to cold and perceive coldness of the body as a causal 'agent', whereas none of them mention viral or bacterial agents. The reported dominating practice of mothers was either the use of irritants to get rid of the cause of the disease ('coldness') through vomiting, by forcing the child to swallow bitter remedies such as cow urine, or to use a remedy with warming and soothing properties.'Robb', a methyl salicylate--probably the most popular Nigerian ointment-appeared to be the drug of choice to 'warm the chest, both from outside and inside', either applied topically or dissolved in hot water to drink. The paper emphasizes the importance of behavioural and social science type studies to get closer to community perceptions of disease etiology and practices as a prerequisite for contextualized health education. The use of inappropriate administration of remedies should be discouraged. Marketing of medicinal drug products for inappropriate indications also needs to be controlled.
本研究的重点是尼日利亚奥约州农村地区家庭中，当孩子患急性呼吸道感染（ARI）时母亲们的应对方式。共采访了419位母亲。该研究结合了三种研究方法，即半结构化问卷、深入访谈和焦点小组讨论，以深入了解她们对该疾病病因和治疗的看法。大多数母亲将急性呼吸道感染发作视为普通的咳嗽和感冒。她们坚信这些大多是由着凉引起的，并将身体发冷视为致病的“因素”，而她们中没有人提及病毒或细菌因素。据报告，母亲们主要的做法要么是使用刺激性物质通过催吐来消除病因（“寒冷”），强迫孩子吞咽诸如牛尿等苦味药物，要么使用具有温热舒缓特性的药物。“罗布”，一种水杨酸甲酯——可能是尼日利亚最受欢迎的药膏——似乎是“从外部和内部温暖胸部”的首选药物，要么局部涂抹，要么溶解在热水中饮用。本文强调行为和社会科学类型研究的重要性，以便更接近社区对疾病病因和做法的认知，这是开展情境化健康教育的前提条件。应劝阻不适当的用药方式。还需要控制用于不适当适应症的药品营销。
