Why Urban Citizens in Developing Countries Use Traditional Medicines: The Case of Suriname

Table 1

Demographic, socioeconomic, and psychological characteristics of the 270 respondents and their use of traditional medicines during the previous 12 months.

Variables and classes	𝑁	Percentage (%)	Use of TMs in the last 12 months (%)
Sex
Male	89	33	58 (65)
Female	181	67	119 (66)
Age (median no. of years)	42
Children in the household (mean ± st. dev.)	1.8 ± 1.8
Lived in interior (mean nr. years ± st. dev.)	4.71 ± 9.0
Country of birth
Suriname	245	91	162 (66)
The Netherlands	7	3	6 (86)
Nationality
Surinamese	245	91	161 (66)
Dutch	14	5	11 (79)
Marital status
Married/cohabiting	149	55	91 (61)
Single (incl. widow, divorced)	107	40	73 (68)
LAT (partner lives elsewhere)	14	5	13 (93)
Ethnic group
Afro-Surinamese	112	41	86 (77)
Hindustani	63	23	32 (51)
Mixed	54	20	40 (74)
Javanese	20	7	6 (30)
Other (White, Chinese, and Brazilian)	21	8	13 (62)
Speaks Dutch
Well	207	77	138 (67)
Moderately	48	18	31 (65)
Badly	15	6	8 (53)
Educational level
Low (≤primary school)	36	13	21 (58)
Moderate (high school, Com. College)	213	79	143 (67)
High (college or university)	21	8	13 (62)
Employment level
None	120	44	76 (63)
Part time (1–4 days/week)	33	12	23 (70)
Full time (5–7 days/week)	117	43	78 (67)
Monthly income
Low (<$550)	192	71	123 (64)
Moderate ($550–910)	39	14	24 (62)
High (>$911)	26	10	22 (85)
Religion
None	17	6	9 (53)
Christian-Catholic	85	32	60 (71)
Christian-Protestant	93	34	69 (74)
Hindu	39	14	20 (51)
Muslim	27	10	12 (44)
Winti	6	2	6 (100)
Belief in winti/spirits
Yes	139	51	101 (73)
No	131	49	76 (58)
Belief healing power plants
Yes	255	94	172 (67)
No	15	6	5 (33)
Belief magic power plants
Yes	125	46	91 (73)
No	145	54	86 (59)
Insurance
Total coverage	119	44	77 (65)
Partial coverage	89	33	55 (61)
No insurance	53	20	42 (76)