Do socioeconomic factors and local human preference determine the hybridization of knowledge in local medical systems?

Abstract

Background: Hybridization between the local medical systems (LMSs) and biomedicine has been the focus of different studies in ethnobiology, primarily due to the increasing access to biomedicine by indigenous peoples and local communities. Studies on hybridization allow for an understanding of the process of developing and evolving local knowledge systems. In this study, we propose a hybridization score to determine how individuals' socioeconomic characteristics and preference between LMS and biomedicine determine the complementarity of therapeutic options.

Methods: We conducted semistructured interviews and applied free listing technique in a rural community in Northeast Brazil to assess the treatments the local population sought and which were preferred.

Results: Our analyses showed that the level of schooling was the socioeconomic factor that negatively affected the hybridization process. Individuals with higher levels of schooling tended to prefer LMS strategies less and, consequently, showed a lower probability of hybridizing the two systems. Additionally, older people who preferred LMS strategies showed a greater tendency to adopt hybridization in human health-seeking behavior.

Conclusions: Our findings provide further evidence of the complementarity between different medical systems and demonstrate that socioeconomic factors can affect local knowledge and are responsible for differences in individual propensity to hybridize distinct medical systems.

Keywords: Biomedicine; Intermedicality; Local ecological knowledge; Medical ethnobiology.

Fig. 1

Location of Franco rural community, Cocal, northern Piauí state, Brazil

Fig. 2

Some options of LMS and interaction with biomedical drugs: a younger people harvesting medicinal plants on forest, b medicinal preparation of Lagenaria siceraria, c Sesamum indicum collected and processed, d, e multiple medicinal complexes plants, f older people processing Ricinus communis seeds, g event of harvesting Scoparia dulcis roots, h Ricinus communis, i older people processing Allium sp., j stage of filtering an important medicinal complex plant, k event of harvesting barks of Ximenia americana, l some biomedicinal drugs which are kept for emergency events, m medicinal animal product, n event of harvesting of Croton grewioides, o event of mystical-religious practices