Preference And Reasons For People Choosing A Place Of Fracture Care: A Case Study In Six Communities Of Assin North District, Ghana

Authors

  • B.A. Appiah
  • R. Baidoo
  • M.T. Morna

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.60014/pmjg.v9i2.235

Keywords:

Preference, Traditional bone setting, Orthodox, Place of fracture care, Assin North District

Abstract

Background: Studies in the African Sub-region have highlighted injuries and its associated morbidity and mortality as an emerging public health problem, making it necessary to develop a holistic approach to handle injury outcomes in Ghana. The study purposed to assess the preference and reasons for people choosing a place of fracture care among the general population in the Assin North District of the Central region of Ghana.
Method: A prospective cross-sectional study was employed in which 237 participants were randomly selected from six communities in the Assin-North District of the Central Region. Structured questionnaires after verbal informed-consent were used to collect data.
The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square test.
Results: A total of 237 participants were interviewed, 14.8% of them had a history of fracture for which 60% sought treatment with Traditional Bone Setters (TBS). About 27.8% of respondents preferred TBS treatment over orthodox fracture care. Most of them (69.6%) were females with more than half (56.1%) being young adults. Only gender (p=0.029) and religion (p=0.043) were associated with the study group’s preference of fracture care. Common reasons for choosing a particular place of fracture care included “perceived” healing  methods (77.6%), past experience (20.7%), time to fracture healing (11.8%), and cost of treatment (9.3%).
Generally, fear of complications such as mal-union (60.8%), stiff knee (62.1%), delayed union (69.6%), amputation (63.3%), and infection (76%) were some of the reasons why participants chose hospital care over TBS.
Conclusion: People make decisions about where to seek fracture treatment (either at a hospital or with a traditional bonesetter) influenced by cost of treatment and knowledge of complications that may result from poorly handled fracture-care. The study showed the need to improve knowledge about the potential benefits of orthodox fracture-care using scientifically tested and reproducible methods which have been shown to consistently improve outcomes.

Author Biographies

B.A. Appiah

Ghana Field Epidemiology and laboratory Training programme (GFELTP), Department of Epidemiology and
Disease Control, University of Ghana, Legon

R. Baidoo

Department of Surgery, School of medical Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast

M.T. Morna

Department of Surgery, School of medical Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast

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Published

2022-07-12

How to Cite

Appiah, B., Baidoo, R., & Morna, M. (2022). Preference And Reasons For People Choosing A Place Of Fracture Care: A Case Study In Six Communities Of Assin North District, Ghana. Postgraduate Medical Journal of Ghana, 9(2), 106–111. https://doi.org/10.60014/pmjg.v9i2.235