From: Metallic mercury use by South African traditional health practitioners: perceptions and practices
Total N =198 | Mercury users N =78 | Non- mercury users N =120 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Characteristics | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | p-value |
Practice area | 0.25† | |||
Durban | 168 (84.9) | 69 (88.5) | 99 (82.5) | |
Pietermaritzburg | 30 (15.1) | 9 (11.5) | 21 (17.5) | |
Gender | 0.26† | |||
Female | 141 (71.2) | 52 (66.7) | 89 (74.2) | |
Male | 57 (28.8) | 26 (33.3) | 31 (25.8) | |
Type of healing practicea | 0.24¤ | |||
Diviner (Sangoma) | 101 (51.3) | 36 (46.8) | 65 (54.2) | |
Herbalist (Inyanga) | 27 (13.7) | 14 (18.2) | 13 (10.8) | |
Diviner/faith healer | 27 (13.7) | 7 (9.1) | 20 (16.7) | |
Herbalist/diviner | 19 (9.7) | 10 (12.9) | 9 (7.5) | |
Herbalist/faith healer | 8 (4.6) | 4 (5.2) | 4 (3.3) | |
Faith healer (Mthandazi) | 6 (3.1) | 1 (1.3) | 5 (4.2) | |
Diviner/THP trainee | 4 (2.0) | 2 (2.6) | 2 (1.67) | |
THP trainee (Thwasa) | 3 (1.5) | 2 (2.6) | 1 (0.8) | |
Diviner/faith healer/THP trainee | 1 (0.5) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.8) | |
Herbalist/diviner/faith healer | 1 (0.5) | 1 (1.3) | 0 (0.0) | |
Years of practiceb | ||||
Median (IQR)d | 8 (3–18) | 9 (2–19) | 8 (4–17) | 0.88° |
Years of practice in 5 year intervalsa | 0.21† | |||
≤5 years | 74 (38.0) | 31 (40.3) | 43 (36.4) | |
6 - 10 years | 39 (20.0) | 14 (18.2) | 25 (21.2) | |
11–20 years | 47 (24.1) | 14 (18.2) | 33 (28.0) | |
>20 years | 35 (18.0) | 18 (23.4) | 17 (14.4) | |
Educationc | 0.78¤ | |||
None | 30 (16.0) | 9 (11.8) | 21 (18.9) | |
Lower primary | 41 (21.9) | 16 (21.1) | 25 (22.5) | |
Higher primary | 28 (15.0) | 12 (15.8) | 16 (14.4) | |
Attended high school | 67 (35.8) | 31 (40.8) | 36 (43.0) | |
Completed high school | 16 (8.6) | 6 (7.9) | 10 (9.0) | |
Tertiary education | 5 (2.7) | 2 (2.6) | 3 (2.7) |