The Determinants of Traditional Medicine Use in Morocco to Treat Sick Infants

Aim of the study: The aim of this study is to investigate the determinants of the use of traditional medicine in Morocco to treat sick infants. Materials and methods: This is a prospective descriptive quantitative study conducted over a 12-month period from February 2023 to February 2024, in the various Moroccan regions. Results: By surveying 520 parents/Tutors, this work retained the following dependent variable: "having ever used traditional medicine to treat their infants" to conduct univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. The final model reports that rural origin (OR: 3.58, 95% CI (1.65-6, 08), P =0.036), income less than 4000 dh (OR: 2.86, 95% CI (1.06-4, 74), P =0.03), AMO health coverage (OR: 3.92, 95% CI (1.84-5, 19), P =0.02), parents'/Tutors' trust in traditional medicine (OR: 2.73, 95% CI (1.35-4.93), P =0.04), parents'/Tutors' trust in traditional healers (OR: 2.24, 95% CI (1.41-6.39), P =0.03), religious beliefs (OR: 2.68, 95% CI (1.86-6.54), P =0.031), interpersonal relationships (OR: 2.37, 95% CI (1.52-6.04), P =0.02), accessibility of traditional medicines (OR: 2.41, 95% CI (1.36-5.4), P =0.05), social accessibility OR: 2.28, 95% CI (1.18-4.71), P=0.01) and low cost of TM (OR: 2.63, 95% CI (1.03-5.80), P =0.02) were ten risk variables favoring parents/Tutors' use of traditional medicine to treat their infants. On the other hand, parents' level of university education (OR: 0.26, 95% CI (0.13-0.49), P =<0.001) and parents' liberal/civil servant status (OR: 0.31, 95% CI (0.18-0.63), P =<0.001) seemed not to encourage respondents to use traditional medicine. Conclusion: Reducing the use of traditional medicine to treat sick infants is of great importance to counteract infant morbidity and mortality in Morocco. For this reason, it is essential to take account of the risk factors identified in this study when implementing urgent measures.