Perception and attitude of religious leaders and outpatients in Dhaka, Bangladesh with regard to Ayurvedic medicine

Objectives: Because of limited medical and financial resources, the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) should be markedly expanded in Bangladesh. From the viewpoint of increasing the use of Ayurvedic medicine (AM) including herbal medicine (HM) more vigorously, new and important recommendations need to be obtained through data comparison among Muslim religious leaders (MRLs), AM outpatients (AMOPTs), and orthodox medicine outpatients (OMOPTs). Therefore, the aim of this study was to confirm the perception and attitude of MRLs, AMOPTs, and OMOPTs toward AM in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Method: This study was conducted from February to June 2015 by trained staff members using a structured questionnaire. The interview respondents were 150 MRLs, 202 AMOPTs, and 150 OMOPTs in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Results: More than 85% AMOPTs and MRLs had a person who helped him/her to use AM; however, only 10.3% OMOPTs had such a person. OMOPTs were skeptical but had no one to help them use AM and suggests that OMOPTs were not familiar with using AM. In terms of attitudes, OMOPTs harbored more skepticism than the other two groups. Conclusions: If OMOPTs had more chances of becoming familiar with AM through someone helping them with its use, then they would use AM more. In addition, to increase the use of AM, appropriate information on its efficacy and safety should be provided to the general public to avoid skepticism. Correspondence to: Yoshitoku Yoshida, Faculty of Nursing, Shubun University, 6 Nikko-cho, Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture, 491-0938, Japan, Tel and Fax: +81-586-45-2101; E-mail: [email protected]