Morbidity profile of adult outpatients attending traditional medicine health facilities in a district of South India

Venkatachalam Duraisamy; Pruthu Thekkur; Marie Gilbert Majella; Manikandan Srinivasan; Ganesh Kumar Saya; Palanivel Chinnakali

doi:10.1016/j.jaim.2017.06.009

Morbidity profile of adult outpatients attending traditional medicine health facilities in a district of South India

J Ayurveda Integr Med. 2018 Oct-Dec;9(4):281-284. doi: 10.1016/j.jaim.2017.06.009. Epub 2018 Oct 9.

Authors

Venkatachalam Duraisamy¹, Pruthu Thekkur², Marie Gilbert Majella², Manikandan Srinivasan², Ganesh Kumar Saya², Palanivel Chinnakali³

Affiliations

¹ Government Hospital, Kavundapadi, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India.
² Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, India.
³ Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, India. Electronic address: palaniccm@gmail.com.

Abstract

Background: Siddha system is a complementary system of medicine popular in South India. Information on common morbidities for which people seek care in Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) systems and especially in Siddha hospitals is very limited. This knowledge will help in prioritizing diseases and developing standard treatment guidelines.

Objective(s): The present study was designed with the aim to describe the morbidity profile of the adult patients attending Siddha Out Patient Department (OPD) at Government Hospitals in Erode district of Tamil Nadu.

Materials and methods: A facility-based cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among adult (15-59 years) patients, who attended Siddha Hospital OPDs during February, 2014. Two block level health facilities were randomly selected from ten block hospitals offering Siddha services in Erode district of Tamil Nadu. Information on socio-demographic characteristics like age, gender and education was captured using a pre-tested proforma. Diagnosis was done by treating Siddha practitioners as per reporting format. Data were single entered and analyzed using EpiData software.

Results: Of the total 1786 patients who attended the Siddha OPD, 1720 (96%) completed the interviews. Mean (Standard Deviation) age of participants was 41 (11) years and 913 (53%) were females; 20% had no formal education. Of 1720 participants, arthritis (21%), neuritis (10%), fungal diseases (7%) were the top three morbidities, with arthritis and neuritis being most common morbidities in both males and females.

Conclusion: Arthritis, neuritis and fungal diseases were the most common morbidities, for which patients sought care in Siddha hospitals. These morbidities can be considered for preparing standard treatment guidelines under the national programme.

Keywords: AYUSH; Complementary therapy; Indigenous health services; Morbidity profile; Siddha.