Selection of Traditional Bone Setting Treatments Following Fractures among Patients Attending Ayurvedic Treatments Centers in Akuressa area

Abstract

Background: Sri Lanka is a historical country claiming for a valuable Ayurvedic Medicine culture, which extends to the traditional bone setting (TBS) treatments for the management of low energy fractures (LEF). Objectives: This descriptive cross-sectional study was aimed to determine the incidence of selecting TBS treatments as the first choice following LEF and associated factors for such selection among patients attending ayurvedic treatments centers in Akuressa area. Methodology: An interviewer administered questionnaire was administered among 205 patients who attended to three randomly selected ayurvedic treatments centers in Akuressa Grama Niladari division during March – April 2018. Results and conclusions: Most of the study participants were males, aged between 61-89 years, unemployed and had only primary education. The incidence for selecting TBS for LEF as the first choice of treatment was 70.7% during the period of study. The common LEF patients who came for the TBS during this month, were lower and upper limb fractures (54.6%) occurred due to the road traffic accidents (49.3%). Among the evaluated sociodemographic factors, only the age (p=0.01) and marital status (p=0.02) were significantly associated with the incidence rate of selecting TBS as first line treatment for LEF. The common factors lead to the patients to select TBS treatments were the self preference on TBS (78%), previous positive outcomes of known people LEF with TBS (76.6%), cost effectiveness (59.5%) and unwillingness to obtain western medical treatments (54.6%). This study revealed incidence for selecting TBS as first line treatment option for LEF was high. Age and the marital status were significantly associated with the incidence rate. The common factors that lead the patients to select TBS treatments, were self preference on TBS, previous positive outcomes of LEF with TBS for known people, cost effectiveness and unwillingness to obtain western medical treatments.