Pharmaceuticals in two Brazilian villages: Lay practices and perceptions

Xki yoma’ (our medicine) and xki tienda (patent medicine)—Interface between traditional and modern medicine among the Mazatecs of Oaxaca, Mexico

“…We found that self-treatment is the most common first therapeutic choice in the study site, and is based on a pharmacopoeia of medicinal plants and CDMs that seems to be adapted to local epidemiology and explanatory models of diseases. These findings correspond well to previous work that has shown a high prevalence of self-treatment (Kleinman, 1980;Cosminsky and Scrimshaw, 1980;Waldstein, 2006), the complementary use of pharmaceuticals and medicinal plants (Higgins, 1975;Cosminsky and Scrimshaw, 1980), and the importance of local explanatory models of illnesses in shaping their use (Haak, 1988;Finerman, 1989;Etkin et al, 1990).…”

“…Likewise, people commonly use CDMs that are effective in the treatment of the most commons health conditions they face. The main classes of CDMs documented in the study are similar to the ones observed elsewhere (Cosminsky and Scrimshaw, 1980;Haak, 1988;Ngokwey, 1995;Okumura et al, 2002) presumably because they reflect similar epidemiological patterns.…”

Xki yoma’ (our medicine) and xki tienda (patent medicine)—Interface between traditional and modern medicine among the Mazatecs of Oaxaca, Mexico

“…We found that self-treatment is the most common first therapeutic choice in the study site, and is based on a pharmacopoeia of medicinal plants and CDMs that seems to be adapted to local epidemiology and explanatory models of diseases. These findings correspond well to previous work that has shown a high prevalence of self-treatment (Kleinman, 1980;Cosminsky and Scrimshaw, 1980;Waldstein, 2006), the complementary use of pharmaceuticals and medicinal plants (Higgins, 1975;Cosminsky and Scrimshaw, 1980), and the importance of local explanatory models of illnesses in shaping their use (Haak, 1988;Finerman, 1989;Etkin et al, 1990).…”

“…Likewise, people commonly use CDMs that are effective in the treatment of the most commons health conditions they face. The main classes of CDMs documented in the study are similar to the ones observed elsewhere (Cosminsky and Scrimshaw, 1980;Haak, 1988;Ngokwey, 1995;Okumura et al, 2002) presumably because they reflect similar epidemiological patterns.…”

Health seeking behaviour for child illness in rural Guatemala

“…It is not possible to circumvent post hoc rationalizations in a retrospective study, but we would agree with Nations and Rebhun (1988) that mothers 'generally seek to balance the possible with the best'. This study, like others in a different rural context (Booth et al 1993;Haak 1988;Haak & Hardon 1988), indicates that mothers in rural Guatemala seem to believe that 'the best' treatment for common childhood symptoms is modern drugs. They have three options to obtain them: ( I ) from an easily accessible drug vendor, who will sell the amount and brand one can afford; ( 2 ) from the public health sector, where consultation is free, but prescribed pharmaceuticals have to be purchased (albeit at subsidized prices, but they are seldom available), and (3) from the private sector, including non-governmental organizations, where drugs have to be bought at commercial rates.…”

Self-Medication Patterns in Amman, Jordan

“…Researchers [5,17,19] had reported that only very small percentage of people actually engage in therapeutic consultations with pharmacy personnel, while others have reported significantly higher proportion of therapeutic consultations in other developing countries [15,16,18]. In current study only one seventh of the patients questioned sought the advice of attending pharmacists.…”

“…This may be because children and elderly were perceived as more liable to adversity of self-medication. Other studies revealed an extensive self-medication during childhood, with nursing infants above all being frequently and intensively treated with drugs [15,16]. The majority of participants in the current study asked for medicines without a prescription by their brand names.…”

Xki yoma’ (our medicine) and xki tienda (patent medicine)—Interface between traditional and modern medicine among the Mazatecs of Oaxaca, Mexico

“…We found that self-treatment is the most common first therapeutic choice in the study site, and is based on a pharmacopoeia of medicinal plants and CDMs that seems to be adapted to local epidemiology and explanatory models of diseases. These findings correspond well to previous work that has shown a high prevalence of self-treatment (Kleinman, 1980;Cosminsky and Scrimshaw, 1980;Waldstein, 2006), the complementary use of pharmaceuticals and medicinal plants (Higgins, 1975;Cosminsky and Scrimshaw, 1980), and the importance of local explanatory models of illnesses in shaping their use (Haak, 1988;Finerman, 1989;Etkin et al, 1990).…”

“…Likewise, people commonly use CDMs that are effective in the treatment of the most commons health conditions they face. The main classes of CDMs documented in the study are similar to the ones observed elsewhere (Cosminsky and Scrimshaw, 1980;Haak, 1988;Ngokwey, 1995;Okumura et al, 2002) presumably because they reflect similar epidemiological patterns.…”

Health seeking behaviour for child illness in rural Guatemala

“…It is not possible to circumvent post hoc rationalizations in a retrospective study, but we would agree with Nations and Rebhun (1988) that mothers 'generally seek to balance the possible with the best'. This study, like others in a different rural context (Booth et al 1993;Haak 1988;Haak & Hardon 1988), indicates that mothers in rural Guatemala seem to believe that 'the best' treatment for common childhood symptoms is modern drugs. They have three options to obtain them: ( I ) from an easily accessible drug vendor, who will sell the amount and brand one can afford; ( 2 ) from the public health sector, where consultation is free, but prescribed pharmaceuticals have to be purchased (albeit at subsidized prices, but they are seldom available), and (3) from the private sector, including non-governmental organizations, where drugs have to be bought at commercial rates.…”

Self-Medication Patterns in Amman, Jordan

“…Researchers [5,17,19] had reported that only very small percentage of people actually engage in therapeutic consultations with pharmacy personnel, while others have reported significantly higher proportion of therapeutic consultations in other developing countries [15,16,18]. In current study only one seventh of the patients questioned sought the advice of attending pharmacists.…”

“…This may be because children and elderly were perceived as more liable to adversity of self-medication. Other studies revealed an extensive self-medication during childhood, with nursing infants above all being frequently and intensively treated with drugs [15,16]. The majority of participants in the current study asked for medicines without a prescription by their brand names.…”

Xki yoma’ (our medicine) and xki tienda (patent medicine)—Interface between traditional and modern medicine among the Mazatecs of Oaxaca, Mexico

“…We found that self-treatment is the most common first therapeutic choice in the study site, and is based on a pharmacopoeia of medicinal plants and CDMs that seems to be adapted to local epidemiology and explanatory models of diseases. These findings correspond well to previous work that has shown a high prevalence of self-treatment (Kleinman, 1980;Cosminsky and Scrimshaw, 1980;Waldstein, 2006), the complementary use of pharmaceuticals and medicinal plants (Higgins, 1975;Cosminsky and Scrimshaw, 1980), and the importance of local explanatory models of illnesses in shaping their use (Haak, 1988;Finerman, 1989;Etkin et al, 1990).…”

“…Likewise, people commonly use CDMs that are effective in the treatment of the most commons health conditions they face. The main classes of CDMs documented in the study are similar to the ones observed elsewhere (Cosminsky and Scrimshaw, 1980;Haak, 1988;Ngokwey, 1995;Okumura et al, 2002) presumably because they reflect similar epidemiological patterns.…”

Health seeking behaviour for child illness in rural Guatemala

“…It is not possible to circumvent post hoc rationalizations in a retrospective study, but we would agree with Nations and Rebhun (1988) that mothers 'generally seek to balance the possible with the best'. This study, like others in a different rural context (Booth et al 1993;Haak 1988;Haak & Hardon 1988), indicates that mothers in rural Guatemala seem to believe that 'the best' treatment for common childhood symptoms is modern drugs. They have three options to obtain them: ( I ) from an easily accessible drug vendor, who will sell the amount and brand one can afford; ( 2 ) from the public health sector, where consultation is free, but prescribed pharmaceuticals have to be purchased (albeit at subsidized prices, but they are seldom available), and (3) from the private sector, including non-governmental organizations, where drugs have to be bought at commercial rates.…”

Self-Medication Patterns in Amman, Jordan

“…Researchers [5,17,19] had reported that only very small percentage of people actually engage in therapeutic consultations with pharmacy personnel, while others have reported significantly higher proportion of therapeutic consultations in other developing countries [15,16,18]. In current study only one seventh of the patients questioned sought the advice of attending pharmacists.…”

“…This may be because children and elderly were perceived as more liable to adversity of self-medication. Other studies revealed an extensive self-medication during childhood, with nursing infants above all being frequently and intensively treated with drugs [15,16]. The majority of participants in the current study asked for medicines without a prescription by their brand names.…”