Term of Award

Fall 2020

Degree Name

Doctor of Public Health in Public Health Leadership (Dr.P.H.)

Document Type and Release Option

Dissertation (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Health Policy and Management (COPH)

Committee Chair

Bettye Apenteng

Committee Member 1

Evans Afriyie-Gyawu

Committee Member 2

Tilicia Mayo-Gamble

Abstract

There is a gap in theoretically-based-research on the use of Traditional Medicine (TM) in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC). The Andersen Health System Utilization (AHU) framework was used to explore the factors associated with TM use among chronically ill patients seeking care from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Ghana, West Africa. Two research questions allowed a focused application of the AHU model. The first research question sought to identify the need, predisposing, and enabling factors associated with TM use. The second research question sought to examine the relationship between TM and perceived health status. Multinomial logistic regression and instrumental variable (IV) Tobit regression analyses were used to address the research questions. Applying the AHU framework, predisposing factors were identified as significant predictors of TM use, including marital status, the use of TM by family/friends, and favorable beliefs regarding TM. The presence of comorbidities – a need factor – was also found to be associated with TM usage. However, in contrast to the AHU framework, enabling factors were not associated with TM use among the study population. Additionally, the study did not find an association between TM use and perceived health status. This study's results contribute to the general understanding of the use of TM for preventive and curative purposes in LMIC.

OCLC Number

1228910021

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

Download

Share

COinS