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Table 1 Sociodemographic and health-seeking characteristics of diagnosed hypertensive adults from low-income communities, by country

From: Prevalence, determinants and outcomes of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine use for hypertension among low-income households in Malaysia and the Philippines

Characteristic by category

Philippines (N = 444)

Malaysia (N = 463)

p-value^

Sociodemographic

 % female

73.4

72.7

0.845

 Mean age (years)

55.6

59.7

 < 0.001

 % with post-secondary education

63.9

46.8

 < 0.001

 % married or cohabitating

72.7

73.1

0.895

 % currently employed

44.8

20.5

 < 0.001

 Mean household size

4.5

3.8

0.012

 Median monthly household income (local currency units)*

11,000 PHP

1500 MYR

 

Hypertension and health-seeking

 Mean number of years since hypertension diagnosis

7.6

8.3

0.810

 Mean systolic blood pressure (mmHg)

150.9

146.1

0.050

 Mean diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)

93.1

88.2

 < 0.001

 % with hypertension controlled

27.2

28.9

0.532

 % currently using antihypertensive medications

82.4

88.4

0.019

 % of current antihypertensive medication users reporting good adherence ~ 

65.3

98.8

 < 0.001

 % who believe conventional medicine is effective to treat hypertension

88.2

81.8

0.042

 % with good knowledge of hypertension

39.6

58.9

 < 0.001

 % with self-reported NCD comorbidities

28.8

53.7

 < 0.001

 % visiting a health provider at least 2 times per year for any reason

54.6

85.2

 < 0.001

 % that trust the health system

91.4

94.3

0.158

 % that believe they can do something to maintain health

94.4

84.9

0.040

 Mean self-reported life satisfaction score (1–10, least to most satisfied)

6.1

7.9

 < 0.001

TCAM

 % currently using TCAM for hypertension

18.8

8.8

 < 0.001

 % using TCAM concurrently with antihypertensive medication+

82.4

71.6

 < 0.001

 % using TCAM only (and not antihypertensive medication) +

17.6

28.4

0.219

 % who were advised to take TCAM when diagnosed with hypertension

6.1

14.4

0.112

 % who believe TCAM is effective to treat hypertension

54.9

21.0

 < 0.001

 Mean % of per capita total household expenditure spent on TCAM for any reason**

0.3

1.4

0.243

 Mean % of per capita household health expenditure spent on TCAM for any reason**

7.0

12.1

0.446

  1. ^Wald test for a difference in proportions/means (weighted for sampling probability and adjusted for community-level clustering)
  2. ~N for this indicator is number aware hypertensive adults currently using antihypertensive medications
  3. +N for this indicator is number aware hypertensive adults currently using TCAM for hypertension
  4. *N is lower for this indicator due to refusals and 'don't know' responses
  5. **N for this indicator is lower in Malaysia as expenditure data was collected from a sub-sample of enrolled households
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BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies

ISSN: 2662-7671

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