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Table 1 Demographic, lifestyle, reproductive and infertility-related characteristics of users and non-users of CAM treatments*

From: Prevalence and determinants of complementary and alternative medicine use among infertile patients in Lebanon: a cross sectional study

 

Overall (n = 213)

Users of CAM (n = 87)

Non-users of CAM (n = 126)

OR (95% CI)**

Age (years) ( mean ± SD)

34.7 ± 6.4

34.9 ± 6.7

34.6 ± 6.3

1.01 (0.97-1.05)

Sex (n,%)

    

Male

63 (29.6%)

41 (47.1%)

22 (17.5%)

1

Female

150 (70.4%)

46 (52.9%)

104 (82.5%)

0.24 (0.13-0.44)

Religion (n,%)

    

Muslim (Sunni, Shiite, Druze)

164 (78.5%)

74 (86.0%)

90 (73.2%)

1

Christian

45 (21.5%)

12 (14.0%)

33 (26.8%)

0.44 (0.21-0.92)

Years Married (n,%)

    

1-3 years

97 (45.5%)

34 (39.1%)

63 (50.0%)

1

4-6 years

57 (26.8%)

20 (23.0%)

37 (29.4%)

1.00 (0.51-1.99)

≥ 7 years

59 (27.7%)

33 (37.9%)

26 (20.6%)

2.35 (1.21-4.56)

p for trend

   

<0.001

Household Income (n,%)

    

<$1000/month

90 (42.3%)

51 (58.6%)

39 (31.0%)

1

$1000-2000/month

47 (22.1%)

17 (19.5%)

30 (23.8%)

0.43 (0.21-0.90)

>$2000/month

76 (35.7%)

19 (21.8%)

57 (45.2%)

0.26 (0.13-0.50)

p for trend

   

<0.001

Educational level (n,%)

    

Illiterate to Baccalaureate

86 (40.4%)

48 (55.2%)

38 (30.2%)

1

Diploma/University

127 (59.6%)

39 (44.8%)

88 (69.8%)

0.35 (0.20-0.62)

Living with parents-in-law (n,%)

    

No

196 (92.0%)

77 (88.5%)

119 (94.4%)

1

Yes

17 (8.0%)

10 (11.5%)

7 (5.6%)

2.21 (0.81-6.05)

Health Insurance (n,%)

    

Uninsured

59 (27.7%)

29 (33.3%)

30 (23.8%)

1

Insured

154 (72.3%)

58 (66.7%)

96 (76.2%)

0.63 (0.34-1.15)

Smoking status (n,%)

    

Non-smokera

177 (83.1%)

68 (78.2%)

109 (86.5%)

1

Smoker

36 (16.9%)

19 (21.8%)

17 (13.5%)

1.79 (0.87-3.68)

No. of years (mean ± SD)

16.0 ± 7.4

17.2 ± 7.3

14.6 ± 7.4

1.05 (0.96-1.16)

Self-perceived stress b

    

≤5

103 (48.4%)

39 (44.8%)

64 (50.8%)

1

>5

110 (51.6%)

48 (55.2%)

62 (49.2%)

1.27 (0.73-2.20)

Age at diagnosis (mean ± SD)

    

< 20 years

19 (8.9%)

14 (16.1%)

5 (4.0%)

1

20-30 years

91 (42.7%)

38 (43.7%)

53 (42.1%)

0.26 (0.09-0.77)

>30 years

103 (48.4%)

35 (40.2%)

68 (54.0%)

0.18 (0.06-0.55)

p for trend

   

<0.001

Kinship to spouse (n,%)

    

Not related

183 (85.9%)

72 (82.8%)

111 (88.1%)

1

Related

30 (14.1%)

15 (17.2%)

15 (11.9%)

1.54 (0.71-3.35)

Family fertility problems (n,%)

    

None

174 (81.7%)

72 (82.8%)

102 (81.0%)

1

Yes

39 (18.3%)

15 (17.2%)

24 (19.0%)

0.89 (0.43-1.81)

Duration of Infertility (mean ± SD)

4.3 ± 4.8

5.6 ± 5.7

3.4 ± 3.9

1.11 (1.04-1.18)

Barriers to adherence to treatment

    

No barriers

85 (39.9%)

32 (36.8%)

53 (42.1%)

1

Barriers

128 (60.1%)

55 (63.2%)

73 (57.9%)

1.25 (0.71-2.19)

Current treatment (Males & Females) (n,%)

    

No IUI or IVF treatmentc

43 (20.2%)

14 (16.1%)

29 (23.0%)

1

IUI or IVF procedure

170 (79.8%)

73 (83.9%)

97 (77.0%)

1.56 (0.77-3.16)

  1. *Values in this table represent n and % for the categorical variables and means ± SDs for the continuous variables.
  2. ** OR and their 95% CI were derived using a univariate logistic model with CAM use as the dependent variable.
  3. a Indicates both non-smokers and past-smokers.
  4. b Self-perceived stress was assessed using a scaling system ranging from 0–10 (0 = no stress at all, 10 = extreme stress).
  5. c Includes patients not receiving any treatment, patients receiving medications without IUI and/or surgery.