Beliefs and attitudes related to traditional and scientific medicine among Nigerians residing in the United States: a comparative study

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to determine beliefs and attitudes toward traditional medicine and scientific medicine among Nigerian students. The instrument was to measure beliefs and attitudes of Nigerian students who had resided in the U.S. for 1 year or less in comparison to those who had resided in the U.S. for 4 years or more. The participants were 21 Nigerian students, 13 (62%) of the students were those who had resided in the U.S. for more than 4 years and 8 (38%) were those who had resided in the U.S. less than 1 year. The instrument used to collect data was the Attitude Belief Survey, developed by the researcher, and administered in December 1992. T-test was used to analyze the data. Results revealed no significant difference in attitudes and beliefs toward traditional medicine in the two groups.