Epilepsy and traditional healers in the Republic of Guinea: A mixed methods study

Abstract

Purpose: To characterize the reasons, extent, and impact of traditional medicine use among people with epilepsy (PWE) in the Republic of Guinea.Methods: Guinea is a low-income country in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with limited healthcare resources. PWE and their caregivers were seen at a public referral hospital in Conakry, the capital city, where they completed semi-structured interviews with physicians regarding their beliefs about epilepsy, medical care, and engagement with traditional healers.Results: Of 132 participants (49% children, 44% female, 55% with a university-educated head of household), 79% had seen a traditional healer, and 71% saw a traditional healer before seeing a medical provider for their epilepsy. Participants were treated by a traditional healer for a mean of 39 months before seeing a medical provider. By contrast, 58% of participants reported taking AEDs regularly, 46% reported having undergone a head CT, 58% reported having had an electroencephalogram, and 4% reported having had a brain MRI. Conclusions:Traditional healers in Guinea provide frontline care for PWE in Guinea with considerable delays in AED initiation, even among a cohort of PWE actively seeking medical care. Engaging with these healers is critical for both influencing community perceptions and appropriately managing epilepsy throughout the country.

High prevalence of epilepsy in Northern Rwanda: Exploring gender differences

“…To address the variability of prevalence across and possibly within countries, coordinated multi‐country research efforts with an emphasis on etiology are necessary, including sound sample sizes, screening, and diagnostic protocols, and integration with other demographic, epidemiological, economic, and cultural datasets. With a diagnosis gap of 62.5% and a treatment gap of 91.4%, our data reiterate the need to better understand the drivers of care seeking patterns and the need to adapt epilepsy public health strategies towards gender‐specific needs related to education of PwE and communities, with a probably vital role for CHWs (Anand et al., 2019 ; Matonda‐Ma‐Nzuzi et al., 2019 ; Mottiar & Lodge, 2018 ; Tuyisenge et al., 2020 ).…”

Traditional medicine use in Timor-Leste

“…In Anand's study focusing on epilepsy in Ghana this figure was even higher at 71%. In that study the use of traditional medicine was associated with a significant delay in seeing a recognized medical provider [18]. Interestingly the reported use of traditional medicine by patients when in hospital was very low.…”

Ethnobotanical Research of Plants Used in Traditional Medicine for The Treatment of Epilepsy in Southern Mozambique

“…Traditional perceptions regarding the etiology of epilepsy are common in different regions of Africa. For example, in Tanzania, Congo and Guinea-Bissau most traditional doctors also believed that epilepsy is caused by witchcraft [21][22][23]. Therefore, health programs should be developed in rural communities to clarify the causes of epilepsy in order to reduce or eliminate the existing myths and taboos surrounding the disease.…”