Parental Traditional Medicine Use for Children and Associated Factors in North Mecha District, North West Ethiopia

INTRODUCTION: Traditional medicine (TM) has existed in human societies before application of modern science to health. Even though there have been many studies conducted on adults' TMuse, there were limited studies done on the issue of parenteral TM use to children in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of parental TM use for children in North Mecha District, North West Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 374 parents with children aged under 18 in the North Mecha District from March 1st to 30th, 2020. A multistage sampling technique was used. Kebeles were selected by using a simple random sampling method from the district. Then, the sample size was proportionally allocated to each kebele. Households were selected by using a table of random sampling technique from the kebele. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. The bivariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess the association between dependent and independent variables. Factors that had a statistically significant association with the dependent variable (p<0.05) were identified as significant in the multivariable logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: From 374 sampled participants, 351 of them were participated in the study making a response rate of 93.90%. The prevalence of parental TM use for children was 90.30%. Being non educated [AOR=5.65, 95% CI: (1.25, 25.50)], rural residence [AOR=6.33, 95% CI: (1.97, 20.32)], having good attitude [AOR=4.91, 95% CI: (1.90,12.65)], very poor wealth index [AOR=8.43, 95% CI: (3.08, 23.06)] and accessibility of TM [AOR=4.01, 95% CI: (1.11, 14.38)] were the determinants of TM utilization. CONCLUSION: TM use was high in this study. TM utilization was affected by modifiable factors. Therefore, the government should give especial emphasis to factors of parental TM use for children under 18-year-old.