Perception of Cautery Healing Effect among Infantsa Parents at the Southwestern Area of Saudi Arabia
To explore the pattern and determinants of traditional cautery practices for management of ailments among infants visiting the outpatient clinics of governmental hospitals in Aseer District. Methods: This study was conducted at the Pediatrics’ Outpatient Clinics of governmental hospitals within Aseer Region. The data collection sheet included personal characteristics and variables related to cautery practices. The study group comprised 150 infants and an age-and gendermatched control group (134 infants) who did not have any cautery marks in their bodies. Results: Parents sought cautery for their infants mainly because of abdominal distension (28%), prolonged cough (27.3%), persistent vomiting (22%) and excessive crying (14%). The main sites for cautery were the infant’s chest (50.7%) and the abdomen (38.7%). The person who performed cautery to the infants was mainly a professional traditional healer (89.3%). Inflammation of skin at the cautery site occurred in 26.7% of infants. Wound infection occurred in 4% while the 6.7% of infants had to be hospitalized after cautery. The complaint of more than one fifth of the infants (21.3%) got cured after cautery, while 50% improved, 26.7% did not improve and 2% worsened. There were significant differences according to parents’ attained educational level (p<0.001 for both fathers and mothers), with more cautery among infants whose parents had lower levels of education. Mothers’ employment was significantly associated with less practice of cautery for infants (p<0.001). Cautery was significantly more practiced for infants with high number of siblings (p=0.017) and for infants within extended families (p=0.018). Conclusions: The perception of parents is in favor of practicing cautery for their infants’ ailments. However, the observed improvement or cure of infants’ after cautery is questionable. Further detailed studies are needed to explore if there are genuine effects for cautery on the human body.
