The State of Practicing Traditional Methods and Their Effects on Individuals With Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Turkey

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the state of traditional methods used by individuals with cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) disease and the effects of traditional methods on their health. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive study. The sample for this study consisted of 232 cutaneous leishmaniasis patients. The research was conducted in the Oriental Sore Treatment Center between January 01, 2020, and March 01, 2021.The research data were collected with a survey. The descriptive statistics were eval-uated with the chi-square test and phi (Φ) and Cramer’s V parameters. A p-value of less than .05 was considered statistically significant. Results: It was observed that 96 people participating in the survey who received treatment with the diagnosis of CL were children and 136 people were adults. It was determined that one of the family members of each patient had previous CL with a rate of 44.9% and that 8.1% of the patients themselves had CL before. While the traditional method is not used in pediatric patients with CL, it was determined that 44.1% of adult patients used the traditional method for securing their disease. Patients using traditional methods mostly (48.3%) bought ready-made ointments from herbalists and applied them to the wounds. 66.7% of the patients suffered from the traditional method they applied. While 10.8% of patients aged 45 years and younger, 74.6% of patients over 45 years of age used traditional methods (p<0.05), and it was observed that there was a negative moderate relationship between age and traditional method usage (Φ =-0,64). While 89.5% of illiterate patients used tra-ditional methods, 13.6% of patients with secondary school or higher education were detected to use traditional methods (p<0,05, V=0,57). Patients with facial wounds preferred to use traditional methods more (p<0,05, V=0,25). Conclusions: This study showed that cutaneous leishmaniasis is still an important public health problem in Şanlıurfa Province in Turkey, and that traditional methods have negative effects on adult patients. Key Words: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, Şark Çıbanı, Traditional Method, Health, Effect