HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by OESER, C. C. Articles by MOORE, D. A. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by OESER, C. C. Articles by MOORE, D. A. J. Related Collections Tuberculosis KAP (Knowledge, Aptitude, Perception)

DOES TRADITIONAL MEDICINE USE HAMPER EFFORTS AT TUBERCULOSIS CONTROL IN URBAN PERU?

Decades of social and political unrest have contributed to the urbanization of the population of Peru with large-scale migration from rural Andean and Amazonian communities to overcrowded shantytowns around Lima. We administered a face-to-face survey questionnaire to 116 patients with suspected and proven tuberculosis (TB) in northern Lima to determine the extent to which the use of traditional therapies from indigenous regions persists and the impact of any such use on TB control. Sixty-three percent of participants reported some form of self-treatment prior to presentation to the National Tuberculosis Program; 52% of them used traditional remedies. Symptom duration was longer among self-remedy users than non-users (median = 25 versus 15 days; P = 0.07) and among those exclusively using western remedies rather than traditional remedies (median = 30 versus 15 days; P = 0.01). We thus found no evidence that use of traditional remedies has an appreciable effect on diagnostic delay in Lima.

Received February 21, 2005. Accepted for publication March 7, 2005.

Acknowledgments: We thank all participants in this study and Fanny García, Rosmery Gutierrez, Sonia Lopez, Carolay Salas, Eleana Sanchez, and Christian Solis for their crucial assistance with field work.

Financial support: Clarissa C. Oeser was supported by the Johns Hopkins/Weizmann Institute Research Exchange Program. Adrian R. Escombe, Carlton A. W. Evans, and David A. J. Moore were supported by Wellcome Trust Research Fellowships in Clinical Tropical Medicine.

^* Address correspondence to David A. J. Moore, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Avenida Honorio Delgado No. 430, Urb, Ingenieria, San Martin de Porras, Lima 31, Peru and Wellcome Centre for Clinical Tropical Medicine, Imperail College, London, United Kingdom. E-mail: daj.moore{at}imperial.ac.uk

Authors’ addresses: Clarissa C. Oeser, Adrian R. Escombe, and Robert H. Gilman, Asociación Benéfica PRISMA, Carlos Gonzales No. 251, Urb. Maranga, Lima 32, Peru, Telephone: 51-1-464-0221, Fax: 51-1-464-0781. Jon S. Friedland, Wellcome Centre for Clinical Tropical Medicine, Imperial College London (Hammersmith Campus), DuCane Road, London W12 0NN, United Kingdom, Telephone: 44-208-383-1943, Fax: 44-208-383-3394. Carlton A. W. Evans, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Avenida Honorio Delgado No. 430, Urb, Ingenieria, San Martin de Porras, Lima 31, Peru, Telephone: 51-1-382-0929, Fax: 51-1-464-0781. David A. J. Moore, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Avenida Honorio Delgado No. 430, Urb, Ingenieria, San Martin de Porras, Lima 31, Peru and Wellcome Centre for Clinical Tropical Medicine, Imperial College, London W12 0NN, United Kingdom, Telephone: 51-1-382-3398, Fax: 51-1-464-0781; E-mail: daj.moore{at}imperial.ac.uk.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G. F. Gonzales, J. Aguilar, and M. Villar The World Summit of Harmonization on Traditional, Alternative and Complementary Medicine (TACM) in Lima, Peru Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med., June 23, 2008; (2008) nen042v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]