Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude, and Utilization of Traditional Medicine among the Communities of Debre Tabor Town, Amhara Regional State, North Central Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Traditional medicine is used by about 80% of the Ethiopian people to meet their healthcare needs. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the community on traditional medicine in Debre Tabor town. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out from November 1, 2018, to December 30, 2018, with a face-to-face interview method and involved 402 participants recruited by systematic random sampling technique. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. The association of independent and dependent variables was determined by binary logistic regression. RESULTS: Among the participants, 294 (73.13%) were females and 108 (26.87%) were males. The ages of participants ranged from 18 to 80 (mean age of the participants was 35.73 ± 0.59 years). Above three-fourths, 322 (80.1%) of the participants had good knowledge. 158 (39.3%) of the participants had a good attitude and 145 (36.1%) of the participants used traditional medicines in their lifetime for different ailments. From all the participants who use traditional medicine, 41 (28.3%) encountered minor adverse effects. CONCLUSIONS: The study participants in Debre Tabor have good knowledge but poor attitude and utilization of traditional medicine.