Table 3 Characteristics of hypertensive versus other traditional medicine users
| Â | Hypertension* | Other | Â |
|---|---|---|---|
Variable | N (%) | N (%) | P-value |
Sex | |||
  Male | 5 (17.9) | 33 (30.8) |  |
  Female | 23 (82.1) | 74 (69.2) | 0.174 |
Age in years | Â | Â | Â |
  < 44 years | 0 (0.0) | 31 (30.7) |  |
  45-54 years | 7 (25.9) | 20 (19.8) |  |
  55 -64 years | 15 (55.6) | 28 (27.7) |  |
  65+ years | 5 (18.5) | 22 (21.8) | 0.003 |
Marital Status | |||
   Married /Cohabiting | 8 (28.6) | 60 (56.1) |  |
  Divorced / Separated /Widowed | 13 (465.4) | 27 (25.2) |  |
  Single | 7 (25.0) | 20 (18.7) | 0.028 |
Highest formal education completed | |||
  No education /Primary school | 8 (28.6) | 46 (44.2) |  |
  Secondary school | 19 (67.9) | 52 (50.0) |  |
  Vocational /Tertiary | 1 (3.6) | 6 (5.8) | 0.243 |
Employment status | |||
  Working full time /Part time | 1 (3.6) | 21 (19.6) |  |
   Unemployed /Looking for a job | 13 (46.4) | 61 (57.0) |  |
  Retired /Other | 14 (50.0) | 25 (23.4) | 0.009 |
Religion | |||
  Christian | 24 (85.7) | 86 (80.4) |  |
  Traditional /No religion /Other | 4 (14.3) | 21 (19.6) | 0.517 |
Form of TM | |||
   Tea | 3 (11.1) | 33 (33.3) |  |
  Powder | 1 (3.7) | 13 (13.1) |  |
   Tea and other mixture | 17 (63.0) | 14 (42.4) |  |
   Other | 6 (22.2) | 11 (11.1) | 0.027 |
Frequency of use | |||
   1-3 times per day | 13 (48.1) | 28 (27.5) |  |
   1-3 times per week | 0 (0.0) | 14 (13.7) |  |
  Occasionally | 14 (51.9) | 60 (58.8) | 0.034 |
Prescriber of TM | |||
   Traditional Healer / Spiritualist /Diviner | 3 (13.6) | 34 (34.7) |  |
   Family Member / Friend / Self-administered | 15 (68.2) | 39 (39.8) |  |
  Different prescribers | 4 (18.2) | 25 (25.5) | 0.045 |
Length of time using TM | |||
  <= 1year | 3 (10.7) | 10 (9.9) |  |
  > 1year | 3 (10.7) | 20 (19.8) |  |
  Several years ago | 20 (71.4) | 58 (57.4) |  |
  Unsure | 2 (7.1) | 13 (12.9) | 0.501 |