Title-Effect of religious beliefs and practices in seeking health care services in Bhutan. A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Bhutan is a small country with a strong religious background. This beliefs and practices (religious rituals) have become so common and regular that majority of the people tends to believe that traditional healing is a safer option than going to the hospital. This research will observe to what extent does religion influences in seeking health care services and understand the role of religions on disease mortality and morbidity. Method: The study was conducted in Thimphu, among the men and women whose age ranges from 18 years to 75 years. A Stratified sampling method was used for the study and 262 people have been interviewed which includes both men and women with age ranging from 18 to 75 years. Result: Majority of the participants (75.2%) from the highly religious group will “some time” only seek the health care services which are similar to the less religious group. The number of participants who will always seek health care services is 42(33.6%) in a less religious group and 31(22.6%) in a highly religious group. With a P-Value of .139 which is not significant, there is no association between religious beliefs and practices in seeking health care services. Conclusion: The study finding indicates that even though there is a slight relationship, it is not significant enough to establish a relationship between religious beliefs and practices in seeking health care services.