Reasons for Patronage of Traditional Bone Setters

The objectives of this study were to analyze the different reasons why patients with fractures patronize traditional bone setters (TBS) and their impression of the outcome of the treatment by the TBS.

A 24 month prospective observational study was conducted from February 2012 to January 2014. All the patients were recruited from the orthopedics outpatient clinic. The demographic data of each patient, the type of injury, presentation to hospital or not, reasons for leaving the hospital, reasons for patronage of the TBS and their impression of the outcome of TBS' treatment, effect of educational background on patronage of TBS and reason for presenting to hospital for orthodox treatment.

Analysis was done with SPSS software Version 20.

A total 79 patients were recruited for the study and they had different reasons for patronizing TBS. These reasons include an external locus of decision making in 19 (24.1%) patients, and greater faith in TBS compared to orthodox medicine in 16 (20.3%). Twelve (15.2%) believed that TBS are more competent than orthodox medical practitioners while another group 11 (13.9%) considered the fees of TBS cheaper than those in the hospital. The delay in treatment in the hospital, forceful removal of patients from hospital against their will and nonsatisfaction with hospital treatment accounted for 5 (6.3%). Poor attitude of hospital staff, fear of amputation, and patients being unconscious during the injury accounted for 2 (2.5%). Their ages ranged from 17 to 83 years, with mean age of 36.8 ± 11.8 years. The male: female ratio was 1.5:1.

With recent advancements in the practice of orthopedics and trauma, there is still a very high patronage of the TBS by most of our patients. This is largely due to the dependence of the patients on their sponsors for treatment, while the influence of cultural and religious beliefs continues to play a major role in these decisions.