You are here

Article Text

Article menu

Download PDFPDF

Research
Traditional, complementary and alternative medicine use in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review
  1. Peter Bai James1,2,
  2. Jon Wardle1,
  3. Amie Steel1,3,
  4. Jon Adams1
  1. 1 Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  2. 2 Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone
  3. 3 Office of Research, Endeavour College of Natural Health, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Peter Bai James; Peter.B.James{at}student.uts.edu.au

Abstract

Background The WHO estimates that a considerable number of people in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) rely on traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) to meet their primary healthcare needs, yet there remains a dearth of research evidence on the overall picture of TCAM utilisation in the region.

Methods We conducted a literature search of original articles examining TCAM use in SSA between 1 January 2006 and 28 February 2017, employing Medline, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, Scopus, ProQuest, PubMed, Embase and African Journals Online databases. A critical appraisal of relevant articles reporting a quantitative or mixed-method design was undertaken.

Results Despite the heterogeneity and general low quality of the identified literature, the review highlights a relatively high use of TCAM alone or in combination with orthodox medicine, in both general population and in specific health conditions in SSA. TCAM users compared with non-TCAM users are more likely to be of low socioeconomic and educational status, while there were inconsistencies in age, sex, spatial location and religious affiliation between TCAM users and non-TCAM users. Most TCAM users (55.8%–100%) in SSA fail to disclose TCAM use to their healthcare providers, with the main reasons for non-disclosure being fear of receiving improper care, healthcare providers’ negative attitude and a lack of enquiry about TCAM use from healthcare providers.

Conclusion TCAM use in SSA is significant, although most studies emerge from a few countries. Factors associated with TCAM use in SSA are similar to those observed in other regions, but further research may be required to further elucidate challenges and opportunities related to TCAM use specific to SSA.

  • complementary therapies
  • traditional medicine
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • systematic review
  • Integrative Medicine
  • Health System

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2018-000895

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Handling editor Dr Stephanie M Topp

    • Contributors PBJ and JW conceived of the study. All authors contributed to the study design. PBJ did the database search and data extraction, while JW, AS and JA supervised the process. PBJ wrote the first draft of the manuscript, while JW, AS and JA contributed to the intellectual content and reviewed the subsequent and final drafts of the manuscript.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent Not required.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data sharing statement There are no additional data available.