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Table 3 Health-related characteristics of respondents (n = 263)

From: Complementary and alternative medicine use among infertile women attending infertility specialty clinics in South Korea: does perceived severity matter?

Characteristics

Overall

n = 263 (%)

CAM users

n = 167 (%)

Non-users

n = 96 (%)

P-value

Practice of health-promoting behavior (Mean ± SD)#

3.02 ± 0.68

3.10 ± 0.65

2.86 ± 0.72

 

 Yes (4,5)

52 (19.8)

40 (24.0)

12 (12.5)

0.025a

 No (1,2,3)

211 (80.2)

127 (76.0)

84 (87.5)

 

Presence of comorbidity

 Yes

49 (18.6)

32 (19.2)

17 (17.7)

0.870a

 No

214 (81.4)

135 (80.8)

79 (82.3)

 

Self-perceived stress (Mean ± SD)*

3.77 ± 0.83

3.85 ± 0.81

3.64 ± 0.86

 

 Severe (4,5)

158 (60.1)

107 (64.1)

51 (53.1)

0.081a

 Not severe (1,2,3)

105 (39.9)

60 (35.9)

45 (46.9)

 

Self-perceived severity of their condition (Mean ± SD)°

3.72 ± 0.90

3.78 ± 0.84

3.61 ± 0.98

 

 Not severe (1,2,3)

105 (39.9)

57 (34.1)

48 (50.0)

0.009a

 Severe (4)

105 (39.9)

78 (46.7)

27 (28.1)

 

 Very severe (5)

53 (20.2)

32 (19.2)

21 (21.9)

 

Self-perceived effectiveness of conventional treatment (Mean ± SD)1

3.54 ± 0.69

3.51 ± 0.65

3.60 ± 0.76

 

 Effective (4,5)

134 (51.0)

83 (49.7)

51 (53.1)

0.593a

 Ineffective (1,2,3)

129 (49.0)

84 (50.3)

45 (46.9)

 

Satisfaction level of conventional treatment (Mean ± SD)2

3.59 ± 0.63

3.56 ± 0.60

3.63 ± 0.68

 

 Satisfied (4,5)

147 (55.9)

91 (54.5)

56 (58.3)

0.546a

 Dissatisfied (1,2,3)

116 (44.1)

76 (45.5)

40 (41.7)

 

Experience of adverse reaction to conventional treatment

 Yes

64 (24.3)

48 (28.7)

16 (16.7)

0.028a

 No

199 (75.7)

119 (71.3)

80 (83.3)

 
  1. # Participants were asked to rate their practice of health-promoting behavior (practicing a healthy diet, regular exercise, and adequate sleep) (1 = Never, 5 = Always)
  2. *Participants were asked to rate their self-perceived stress level (1 = Not at all, 5 = Very much)
  3. °Participants were asked to rate their self-perceived severity of infertility condition (1 = Not at all, 5 = Very much)
  4. 1Participants were asked to rate their self-perceived effectiveness of conventional treatment (1 = Not at all, 5 = Very much)
  5. 2Respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction to conventional fertility treatment (1 = Very dissatisfied, 5 = Very satisfied)
  6. a Denotes Pearson’s Chi-square tests