Morbidity profile of patients seeking care in private Siddha facilities in Tamil Nadu: a cross-sectional study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20263195Keywords:
AYUSH, Morbidity profile, Siddha, Indian System of medicineAbstract
Background: The Siddha system of medicine is one of the widely practiced traditional medical systems in South India. Despite increasing utilization of Siddha services in both public and private sectors, evidence on morbidity patterns in private Siddha healthcare facilities is limited. This study aimed to describe the morbidity profile of patients attending Arogya Healthcare Private Limited in Chennai in 2024.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using outpatient data collected from January to December 2024 from Arogya healthcare private limited clinics, Tamil Nadu. We extracted patient information, including age, sex, and clinical diagnoses, from the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system using a structured data extraction form. We analyzed the data using Epi Info software and present the findings as frequencies and proportions.
Results: We extracted and analyzed 28,049 outpatient data. The majority of patients were female (57.1 %), and belonged to the 31-45-year age group (31%). The most frequently reported conditions were diabetes (12.5%), ulcers (7.4 %), osteoarthritis (7.4%), cold/cough (5.8%) and sinusitis (4.8%). Diabetes was at top in both sexes, but it varied in the following diseases. According to Siddha classification, vali-related disorders (40%) were more commonly reported.
Conclusions: This study describes the morbidity pattern in private Siddha clinic. Many patients sought care were female, came for follow-up and chronic conditions like diabetes, ulcers, and osteoarthritis. The identification of pattern helps in the integration of data for the surveillance and developing standardized preventive and management strategies to reduce disease burden and improve quality of life.
References
Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine, https://www.who.int/health-topics/traditional-complementary-and-integrative-medicine (accessed 2 February 2026).
World Health Organization (ed). WHO global report on traditional and complementary medicine, 2019. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2019.
Ayushman Bharat Book English, https://namayush.gov.in/sites/default/files/doc/AYUSH_HWCs_Operational_Guideline_English.pdf (accessed 16 February 2026).
Ministry of AYUSH. SIDDHA SYSTEM OF MEDICINE. New Delhi: Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, https://siddhacouncil.com/ccrs/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Siddha-Dossier_CCRS_Chennai-1.pdf (2019, accessed 15 May 2025).
Lok Sabha. Siddha Centres in Tamil Nadu. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH, March 2025.
Prevention of Muskuloskeletol Disorder – Ayush, https://imhd.tn.gov.in/prevention-of-muskuloskeletol-disorder/ (accessed 16 February 2026).
Natarajan S, Anbarasi C, Sendhilkumar M, et al. Siddha COVID Care Centers in Tamil Nadu, India: Coverage, Workload, and Knowledge Gaps. Cureus; 17. Epub ahead of print 2 February 2025. DOI: 10.7759/cureus.78369.
J. Cyril Kanmony. Alternate Healthcare Systems and Their Utilization with Special Reference to Kanniyakumari and Tirunelveli Districts of Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Business Management and Economic Research.
Nguyen MP, Tariq A, Hinchcliff R, et al. Why do consumers choose private over public health services? Reflective accounts of health providers in Vietnam. BMC Health Serv Res 2023; 23: 900.
Rudra S, Kalra A, Kumar A, et al. Utilization of alternative systems of medicine as health care services in India: Evidence on AYUSH care from NSS 2014. PLoS ONE 2017; 12: e0176916.
Mimi O, Tong S, Nordin S, et al. A Comparison of Morbidity Patterns in Public and Private Primary Care Clinics in Malaysia. Malays Fam Physician 2011; 6: 19–25.
Palepu S, Bandyopadhyay A, Nandan T, et al. Morbidity Profile and Healthcare Service Utilization Pattern Among Geriatric Population in the Rural Himalayan Region of Uttarakhand, India: A Cross-Sectional Study. Cureus. Epub ahead of print 5 December 2023. DOI: 10.7759/cureus.50000.
Shankar S, Ashwini Kumar, George P Jacob, et al. STUDY OF MORBIDITY PATTERN AND UTILISATION OF HEALTH SERVICES IN A SUBCENTRE AREA IN UDUPI TALUK. 4: 673–677.
Boovaragasamy C, N S. Morbidity proMorbidity profile of patients attending Siddha clinics of Primary Health Centres in rural Puducherryfile of patients attending Siddha clinics of Primary Health Centres in rural Puducherry. National Journal of Research in Community Medicine 2019; 8: 163–166.
Selvaraj K, Srinivasan M, Duraisamy V, et al. Morbidity profile of elderly outpatients attending selected sub-district Siddha health facilities in Tamil Nadu, India. Ancient Sci Life 2016; 35: 212.
Balasubramanian C, Shenbagaraj S, Muthappan S, et al. Morbidity profile of patients attended Siddha Regional Research Institute, Puducherry in 2017–A cross-sectional study. Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine 2022; 13: 100507.
Sharma D, Mazta SR, Parashar A. Morbidity Pattern and Health-seeking Behavior of Aged Population residing in Shimla Hills of North India: A Cross-Sectional Study. J Family Med Prim Care 2013; 2: 188–193.
Rout SK, Sahu KS, Mahapatra S. Utilization of health care services in public and private healthcare in India: Causes and determinants. International Journal of Healthcare Management 2021; 14: 509–516.
Megha Sharma, Devyani Rawat. Reasons for choice of Private Hospitals by Patients: A Descriptive Study. Journal of Informatics Education and Research. Epub ahead of print 2023. DOI: 10.52783/jier.v3i2.51.
Krishna GD. A Study On Consumer Preference of Private Hospitals Over Public Hospitals in India. 3.
Arogya Siddha Hospital | Arogya Health Care, https://www.arogyahealthcare.com/ (accessed 2 February 2026).
Duraisamy V, Thekkur P, Majella MG, et al. Morbidity profile of adult outpatients attending traditional medicine health facilities in a district of South India. Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine 2018; 9: 281–284.
R M, J CG, M MS, et al. Morbidity profiling of patients treated at Ayothidoss Pandithar Hospital of the National Institute of Siddha from 2004 to 2023 in Tamil Nadu, India. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health 2024; 11: 2646–2655.
Mane V, Markam J, William RF, et al. Socio-demographic profile and pattern of illness among patients attending outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital in Tamil Nadu. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health 2016; 3: 476–481.
Sun J, Huang L, Li R, et al. Comparison of Secular Trends in Peptic Ulcer Diseases Mortality in China, Brazil and India during 1990–2019: An Age-Period-Cohort Analysis. Healthcare; 11. Epub ahead of print 11 April 2023. DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11081085.
Naina Purkayastha, Sharma H. Prevalence and potential determinants of primary infertility in India: Evidence from Indian demographic health survey. Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health 2021; 9: 162–170.
Tiwari J, Halder P, Sharma D, et al. Prevalence and association of musculoskeletal disorders with various risk factors among older Indian adults: Insights from a nationally representative survey. PLoS One 2024; 19: e0299415.
Annu J, Singh TB, Sachan S, et al. Socio-demographic profile and treatment-seeking behavior of infertile women in tertiary care hospital of Varanasi. Discov Public Health 2025; 22: 262.
Bang AA, Bhojraj SY, Deshmukh M, et al. Healthcare seeking behavior for pain in back and extremities in rural population: a community-based estimation of treatment seeking, types and choice of care giver during a period of twelve months in rural Gadchiroli, India. Journal of Global Health Reports; 5. Epub ahead of print 5 January 2022. DOI: 10.29392/001c.30747.
Haridoss M, Nandi D, Rajesh Lenin R, et al. Health-seeking behavior and its determinants for non-communicable diseases in India - a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Public Health 2025; 13: 1580824.
Kamath S, Poojary M, Shetty H, et al. “Private Hospitals Generally Offer Better Treatment and Facilities”: Out-of-Pocket Expenditure on Healthcare and the Preference for Private Healthcare Providers in South India. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health; 21. Epub ahead of print 26 September 2024. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph21101287.
Reddy MM, Nair D, Duraisamy V, et al. Morbidity profile of children attending Siddha hospitals in a district of Tamil Nadu, South India. International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics 2015; 2: 168–171.
Muthappan S, Shanmugasundaram N, Podugu S, et al. Bibliometric Analysis of India’s Ayush Systems of Medicine Using Ayush Research Portal Data from 1954-2020: Current Status, Challenges, and the Way Forward for Future Research. Altern Ther Health Med 2025; AT11601.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYUSH. UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.969. Rajya Sabha.
Ministry of AYUSH. Minutes of the Mission Directorate Meeting of the National Ayush Mission (NAM) for the State Government of Tamil Nadu for the year 2024-25, https://namayush.gov.in/sites/default/files/Mom/2024_25/Tamil%20Nadu_MD_Minutes_2024_25.pdf (2025, accessed 21 April 2026).
Das AV. People to policy: The promise and challenges of big data for India. Indian J Ophthalmol 2021; 69: 3052–3057.
Global traditional medicine strategy 2025-2034, https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240113176 (accessed 20 February 2026).
Kumar S, Hazra S, Kaushik R, et al. Harnessing digital health for integrating Ayush systems in mainstream Public Health System of India. International Journal of Ayurveda Research 2025; 6: 371.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
