Research Article
Herbal and Alternative Medicine Use in Tanzanian Adults Admitted with Hypertension-Related Diseases: A Mixed-Methods Study
Table 3
Characteristics and factors associated with the current use of herbal medicine in the month prior to hospital admission.
| | Variable | Herbal users
() | Herbal
nonusers () | Odds ratio
95% CI | value | | Proportion (%) | | Median |
| | Female gender | 26 (23.2) | 86 (76.8) | 0.87 | 0.67 | | Age category (years) | | | | | | ≤45 | 13 (21.7) | 47 (78.3) | 1 | | | 46–55 | 12 (30.0) | 28 (7.0) | 1.55 | | | 56–65 | 11 (20.1) | 43 (79.6) | 0.93 | | | >65 | 16 (27.1) | 43 (72.9) | 1.35 | 0.65 | | Education level | | | | | | Not completed primary school | 21 (36.2) | 37 (63.8) | | | | Completed primary school | 27 (22.3) | 94 (77.7) | | | | Completed secondary school | 4 (11.8) | 30 (88.2) | 0.49 | 0.007 | | Occupation | | | | | | Farmer | 25 (32.1) | 53 (68.0) | 1 | | | Small scale business | 18 (33.3) | 36 (66.7) | 1.06 | | | Professional, business, or student | 9 (11.1) | 72 (88.9) | 0.27 | 0.002 | | Health insurance | | | | | | No insurance | 45 (31.5) | 98 (68.5) | 1 | | | Insurance | 7 (10.0) | 63 (90.0) | 0.24 | 0.001 | | Hypertension diagnosis | | | | | | New diagnosis | 13 (25.5) | 38 (74.5) | 1 | | | Previously diagnosed | 39 (24.1) | 123 (75.9) | 0.93 | 0.84 | | Years of diagnosis | | | | | | ≤1 | 16 (32.0) | 34 (38.0) | | | | 2–4 | 7 (16.7) | 35 (83.3) | 0.43 | | | 5–9 | 8 (28.6) | 20 (71.4) | 0.85 | | | ≥10 | 21 (24.4) | 72 (77.4) | 0.62 | 0.34 | | Systolic blood pressure | | | | | | ≤140 | 8 (18.2) | 36 (81.8) | | | | 141–160 | 17 (27.9) | 44 (72.1) | 1.74 | | | 161–180 | 16 (29.6) | 38 (70.4) | 1.89 | | | >180 | 11 (20.4) | 43 (79.6) | 1.15 | 0.45 | | Currently on hypertensive medication | 38 (23.9) | 121 (76.1) | 1.53 | 0.77 | | Is hypertension curable (or is it a lifelong condition)? | | | | | | No (hypertension is a lifelong condition) | 34 (28.8) | 84 (71.2) | | | | Yes (hypertension is curable) | 18 (19.0) | 77 (81.1) | 0.58 | 0.098 | | Is there anything that can be done to prevent hypertension? | | | | | | Yes | 8 (14.8) | 46 (85.2) | | | | No | 44 (27.7) | 115 (72.3) | 0.46 | 0.06 | | Place of diagnosis | | | | | | Hospital | 47 (24.2) | 147 (75.8) | | | | Other | 5 (26.3) | 14 (73.7) | 1.12 | 0.34 | | MMAS Question1 (ever forget to take medicines) | 5 (12.5) | 35 (87.5) | 0.42 | 0.12 | | MMAS Question2 (have problems remembering to take medicines) | 5 (14.3) | 30 (85.7) | 0.54 | 0.28 | | MMAS Question3 (when feel better stops taking medicines) | 12 (21.8) | 43 (78.2) | 1.21 | 0.70 | | MMAS Question4 (stop taking medicines when feeling worse with medicines) | 1 (11.1) | 8 (88.9) | 0.46 | 0.44 | | Medication adherence (MMAS-4) score | | | | | | High adherence (0) | 8 (22.9) | 27 (77.1) | | | | Medium adherence (1-2) | 9 (23.7) | 29 (76.3) | | | | Low adherence (3-4) | 21 (24.4) | 65 (75.6) | 1.64 | 0.85 | | Prevalence of comorbid condition | 44 (25.4) | 129 (74.6) | 1.36 | 0.47 | | Individual comorbid conditions | | | | | | Diabetes mellitus | 9 (23.1) | 30 (76.9) | 0.9 | 0.82 | | Kidney disease | 7 (29.2) | 17 (70.8) | 1.32 | 0.57 | | Stroke | 10 (50) | 10 (50) | 3.60 | 0.008 | | Heart failure | 10 (18.5) | 44 (81.5) | 0.63 | 0.24 |
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MMAS-4, Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, the 4-item scale; IQR, interquartile range; CI, confidence interval.
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