• Fransisco Msonge, Lusobya Rebecca Clare, Anne A Musika, Immaculate Atukunda, Caroline Otike, Juma Paul, Elizabeth Nagawa, Eunice Headcraph, Lydia Nakiyingi, Charles M Yancey, Agaba John, and Juliet Otiti-Sengeri.
• Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda.
• Afr Health Sci. 2023 Jun 1; 23 (2): 459468459-468.

BackgroundOver the past decades there has been a phenomenal increase in the use of Traditional Eye medicines (TEM) worldwide and there are several factors that compel patients to use TEM.ObjectivesWe conducted a study to determine the types of traditional eye medicine, ocular complications, and associated factors among traditional eye medicine users at the Mulago National Referral Hospital (MNRH) eye clinic.Methods And MaterialsA hospital-based cross-sectional study among TEM users at MNRH eye clinic from June to August 2021. Epi Data version 4.2 and STATA version 15 used for analysis. A modified Poisson regression with robust standard errors was used to determine the associated factors.ResultsOverall, 182 TEM users (males:53.3%) were enrolled, with a mean age of 36±21SD years. The most frequently used type of TEM were plant products (47.8%). 70% of TEM users had ocular complications, the most frequent manifestation was conjunctivitis (53.9%). Ocular complications were significantly associated with living in the urban areas (p< 0.006) and participants who reported ease and availability of TEM (p < 0.001).ConclusionPlant-based products were the most frequently used types of TEM, a large proportion of the TEM users were found with sight-threatening ocular complications.© 2023 Msonge F et al.

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