ArticleTransactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene2016
Alternative medicine: an ethnographic study of how practitioners of Indian medical systems manage TB in Mumbai.
Article in Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Tuberculosis Cascade of Care in India's Public Sector: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.PLoS medicine · 2016Pooled it
- Such a long journey: What health seeking pathways of patients with drug resistant tuberculosis in Mumbai tell us.PloS one · 2019Trial
- "Fragmented care pathway in a layered TB care system": a grounded theory approach to understand care pathways and delays in TB care in Odisha.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Perceptions of effective policy interventions and strategies to address antibiotic misuse within primary healthcare in India: A qualitative study.Journal of infection prevention · 2023Article
- A qualitative study of perspectives on access to tuberculosis health services in Xigaze, China.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2021Article
- Field sales force model to increase adoption of a novel tuberculosis diagnostic test among private providers: evidence from India.BMJ global health · 2020Article
- Predicting the impact of patient and private provider behavior on diagnostic delay for pulmonary tuberculosis patients in India: A simulation modeling study.PLoS medicine · 2020Article
- Closing gaps in the tuberculosis care cascade: an action-oriented research agenda.Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2020Review
- The impact of chest radiography and Xpert MTB/RIF testing among household contacts in Chennai, India.PloS one · 2020Article
- Use of standardised patients to assess gender differences in quality of tuberculosis care in urban India: a two-city, cross-sectional study.The Lancet. Global health · 2019Article
- Use of standardised patients for healthcare quality research in low- and middle-income countries.BMJ global health · 2019Review
- Can community pharmacists improve tuberculosis case finding? A mixed methods intervention study in India.BMJ global health · 2019Article
- Pulmonary tuberculosis in Patna, India: Durations, delays, and health care seeking behaviour among patients identified through household surveys.Journal of epidemiology and global health · 2017Article
- Knowledge of Private Practitioners Regarding Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program- A Cross-Sectional Study from the Haryana state of India.Nigerian medical journal : journal of the Nigeria Medical AssociationArticle
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2 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundMumbai is a hot spot for drug-resistant TB, and private practitioners trained in AYUSH systems (Ayurveda, yoga, Unani, Siddha and homeopathy) are major healthcare providers. It is important to understand how AYUSH practitioners manage patients with TB or presumptive TB.
methodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews of 175 Mumbai slum-based practitioners holding degrees in Ayurveda, homeopathy and Unani. Most providers gave multiple interviews. We observed 10 providers in clinical interactions, documenting: clinical examinations, symptoms, history taking, prescriptions and diagnostic tests.
resultsNo practitioners exclusively used his or her system of training. The practice of biomedicine is frequent, with practitioners often using biomedical disease categories and diagnostics. The use of homeopathy was rare (only 4% of consultations with homeopaths resulted in homeopathic remedies) and Ayurveda rarer (3% of consultations). For TB, all mentioned chest x-ray while 31 (17.7%) mentioned sputum smear as a TB test. One hundred and sixty-four practitioners (93.7%) reported referring TB patients to a public hospital or chest physician. Eleven practitioners (6.3%) reported treating patients with TB. Nine (5.1%) reported treating patients with drug-susceptible TB with at least one second-line drug.
conclusionsImportant sources of health care in Mumbai's slums, AYUSH physicians frequently use biomedical therapies and most refer patients with TB to chest physicians or the public sector. They are integral to TB care and control.
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